ChronosCat

http://www.egscomics.com/egsnp.php?id=725 Darn it, there goes my head-canon that Susan had hooves for hands. On the positive side, there are two special backgrounds for me to cheer for. Yay for starburst backgrounds in panels one and three! It's interesting that Ashley's transforming Susan. Did she want to get rid of those cards, or did she just want to see what the effects looked like? Also, as soon as Ashley takes her turn, she has a chance of winning. I'm actually looking forward to seeing either how she fails to win, or how the end of the game is handled.

EGS a few clicks away, thousands of years from now? Only if people become much more diligent about keeping archives of inactive websites (or Webcomics in particular), much more so than they are these days. I've seen too many sites vanish without a trace over the years to have much confidence that very many things available mainly or solely online today will still be available decades from now, let alone centuries or millennia. As for the Lord of the Rings, of course once modern English falls out of use, not many people will read the originals - but there will likely be translations that are more well read. And yes, based on how we treat classics these days, it won't be as popular as the things made in that future era. The point though is that it won't be completely forgotten (or at least I don't think so).

And I kept it in quotations deliberately. Sorry for dredging up the bad memories.

True, "tolerant" is not the same as accepting, but it's still a lot better than what a lot of the Bunnies were expecting before Mrs. Kitsune learned Nanase and Ellen were dating. The "resolution" between Justin and Melissa came as a surprise to me - I really didn't expect Dan to have the guts to say "they're never going to be friends again". Still, while I usually prefer a "happily ever after" resolution, in this case I thought it was actually more satisfying than if they had made up; there was just too much bad blood between them for by that point. I expect that Adrian and Pandora would have made up if Pandora had lived longer; depending on how her Refresh goes, it may still not be too late. The situation between Tedd and Mr. Verres is currently in roughly the same position as the one between Nanase and Mrs. Kitsune prior to Nanase coming out; only when Tedd and Mr. Verres actually discuss Tedd's genderfluidty will we know what Mr. Verres views are and how "easy" the resolution is. Similarly, many of the other conflicts you mentioned are merely simmering in the background at the moment. Just to be clear, I'm not saying that all conflicts in EGS end with everyone getting along perfectly, or that they happen quick in real-time. I'm just saying that once Dan's ready to resolve a conflict it tends to go quickly in-story, and things often turn out better for the characters than one might have expected things to in a lot of other writers' stories (or, depending on who you ask, in real life). (And also, "Dan's a good writer" is perhaps not the best evidence for why things are likely to go one way over another.)

So Dan has stated multiple times before that he's always intended EGS to follow the cast from high school into college. This raises the questions, who out of the main 8 and their classmates will be going to college, where, and pursuing what majors/careers? (These questions have been discussed before on the forums, but I don't think I've participated in such a discussion for years, so I figured it was a good time to revive it.) While the group are close, I don't think they're so close they would set their hearts on all going to the same college, so there's a good chance they won't all wind up in the same college. In fact, seeing as not everyone goes to college, I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the main 8 didn't go. While it turns out he's a unconventional wand-maker and a Seer, rather than the Mad Scientist he initially appeared to be, I still somehow expect Tedd to pursue something science related in college, probably either in the engineering field (tying in to his love of tinkering with gadgets), or in advanced physics (perhaps seeking to understand Magic from a scientific perspective). I expect Tedd and Grace at least will try and get into the same college, though Grace would probably choose a different major. Maybe sociology? Sarah obviously will go for art college or at least an art-related major. I doubt Ellen or Elliot even know what they want to do after high school. (Actually, didn't Elliot say as much at one point?) I don't really have any ideas for any of the others at the moment, but I'd love to hear other people's ideas.

I'm here to kick tails and chew bubblegum - and I'm all out of tails to kick. :p (Seriously, though, I think we all get to choose what our purpose or purposes in life are. Mine include learning as much as I can, and entertaining others with my stories and art.) I believe the "Will of Magic" would more properly be named "The Will of the Magic of Humans of this Side of this World". I also have a theory that it is a gestalt being created by the combined magics of all the beings it affects. The way I see it the Will of Magic in question would probably cease to exist without humans (it definitely would if my theory is correct). Of course, that doesn't mean it cares about anything besides itself - it just means that caring about itself also requires ensuring the continued survival of the human race in this (side of the) world.

I will point out that the last time we saw Mama Kitsune, she didn't say anything homophobic about Nanase and Ellen's relationship. Mind you there was a 6 month time skip in which she could have realized what she was doing and accepted it, maybe even support it. Heck when Nanase and Ellen started going around solving mysteries and such it doesn't seem like Mama Kitsune tried to stop it or claim that Ellen's a bad influence or something, but then again Mama Kitsune knows what went down at the High School and knows that Nanase's become a strong magic user so maybe she's taken that into consideration. Anyway, Dan might be handling Edward in a similar manner, though it would be nice if there was actual closure rather than just having it fade away and I'm hoping that Tedd's recent show of asserting herself in front of Edward is a sign that closure is coming soon. I suspect Mrs. Kitsune still does not approve of Nanase and Ellen's relationship (and/or thinks it's a phase) but thought warning her of the danger of the reputation she was building was more important. Still, considering how much her homophobia was built up she's been remarkably tolerant. I remember back when Mrs. Kitsune was first introduced and continuing until the climax of Sister II, many Bunnies thought that when Mrs. Kitsune found out about Nanase being lesbian Nanase would be thrown out of the house, or that there would at least be a big fight between them. A few Bunnies argued that everything we'd seen of Mrs. Kitsune was from Nanase's perspective, and she might actually accept Nanase's homosexuality, but the ones who expected conflict said that would be unrealistic and/or bad writing. I don't have a quote, but I seem to recall Tangent even saying Dan was a "better writer" than to not have a big fight between Nanase and her mother. Dan may be a good writer, but his discomfort in seeing his characters unhappy often leads to him squandering potential drama and conflict, and one should never bet on him avoiding an easy resolution. (Actually, though, even if this is a "flaw" in his writing, I like it that way. It's nice to have a story written for adults where I know things will never get too bad for the main characters, and most of the problems they do have will turn out all right in the end.)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/kitty-ashley-16647301 http://www.egscomics.com/sketchbook.php?id=892 Meow me meow meow cat-girls meow meow mew Ashley meow meow meow cute meow. * * Translation: <Personally I prefer cat girls with fur, but Ashely still looks pretty cute here.>

What were your thoughts on Diane bringing that up? I thought it was cool that Dan acknowledged it rather than just pretending it didn't happen. (But then, that wasn't the first time Dan acknowledged something from the early days of the comic that he had long abandoned; the Hammers even got their own arc. Still, I suspect there are limits to Dan's willingness to acknowledge the wackier aspects of early EGS in-story; I doubt we'll be seeing Matt and Rat again...)

One change that disappointed me when I noticed it happening years ago was the shift from a focus on light-hearted sci-fi with fantasy elements to mostly just fantasy, as the TFG and Uryuom/Chimera transformations were reveled to be magic, and Uryuoms and other sci-fi elements faded into the background. I'm still hoping that one day we'll get more stories focused on Uryoms and Chimeras. A related change was Tedd's transformation from the "mad scientist" presumed to have invented the TFG to "merely" a skilled programmer who happened to have a very powerful device to play with. Subsequent events, including it being revealed he's a wand maker and seer have restored his position as someone particularly special, and his construction of the glove, watches, and other magi-tech devices has restored some of his mad science cred, but I still miss my initial impression of him a little bit. Another element seen early on that was dropped was the casual public use of magic (Nanase being one of the biggest offenders); I always thought that was neat, and I'm hoping that the Will of Magic will allow magic to become/remain public knowledge so that sort of thing might again be possible. Just so this post isn't just complaining about changes I didn't like, I want to mention I love how Dan has developed Tedd's personality over time, ditching the early cliche obnoxious traits and embracing his gender-fluid nature.

As far as I can recall, we have no evidence Lord Tedd actually rules his world. All we know is that General Shade Tail, Nioi, and the Goo all call him "Lord" or "Master", and they all live or at least hang out in a fairly large building or facility that gives the impression of being a fortress or villain's lair. Shade Tale's title of "General" does suggest he is part of some sort of military, but we don't know for sure that military is under Lord Tedd's command, and even if it is that doesn't necessarily mean they have control over much if any territory. Lord Tedd could be a minor warlord, or plotting conquest without having started in on it, or he could just be an "ordinary" citizen who just to happens to be "friends" with a general and likes to send demon nuclei to attack alternate universes. Heck, even if he is in an official position of power, military force isn't the only "old-fashioned" way; he could have been elected to his position (or if his nation isn't a democracy or a dictatorship, gone through whatever the appropriate legal means of gaining positions of power is in that system). Granted his age might be an issue with this, but different worlds can be at different points in time, and I could see Lord Tedd being in his mid or even late 20s.

Well, she does seem to be getting into the "role", which for me almost makes up for her lack of whiskers / fur / etc. (It would have been nice if Dan had positioned the tail so it was more obvious, however.)

I always find these breaks for Hanma to explain things a little annoying; I'd much rather see the players playing the game. I suppose it would be pretty hard to follow if we didn't know what the cards do, and Dan can't count on everyone reading explanations in the commentary, so I understand the need, but that doesn't make it less annoying. On the plus side, we get more of that awesome creepy starburst background. Yay for twisted starburst background in panel three! (And also yay for regular starburst background in panel one, and mini-starburst background in panel two, I suppose.) Susan is singling Rhoda out because Rhoda was the one to take both of the spaces Susan has lost over the course of the game.

So, if I follow what Dan says in the commentary, if were three changes in a short period of time, there probably wouldn't be any eligible Seers (unless it took long enough for new seers to be born and grow old enough to use magic)... This would seem to rule out the possibility of consulted Seers having their memory of the consultation suppressed afterward. ... I'm never quite sure whether to cheer for the starbursts when they're clearly not "really" there, but they are overlaid on the true background rather than replacing it (the tradition is to cheer for special backgrounds, after all). ...Then again, seeing as this is a dream world, maybe it is "real" after all - that look Arthur is giving Ted in panel four could be because of more than just what she said... Sure, why not, I'll go with that idea.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/youve-won-game-16646005 http://www.egscomics.com/sketchbook.php?id=891 I wonder if she was in the middle of changing her hair color, or if that was the look she was going for? Personally, I don't think that shade of blue goes very good with that shade of blonde or the pink shirt. It is a nice shade of blue however, and goes well with her skin and her brown fur. It's kind of funny how ever since Dan decided not all the milestone images needed to be sexy pinups, we've gotten a number that don't go nearly as far as their descriptions make it sound like they would. I really don't mind some of the milestone images not being pinups, but it would be nice if we could tell one from the other based on the description.

I thought for sure it had been established that wands store power, but I'm not sure where to look for confirmation. At any rate I suspect he has a lot more details about the magic system worked out than he's had a chance to explain in the comic; coming up with rules and figuring out details seems to be something he likes doing.

I'd be surprised if he answered it; that sounds like the sort of thing he'd consider a spoiler. I'm guessing Immortals; one might have been in a seer's dreams when the seer was contacted by WoM; they might also have other mystical means of gathering information. Alternately, at some point there was a Seer playing around with magic that allows you to better remember your dreams and/or uncover lost memories, and accidentally uncovered it.

You do have a point that it ought to be easier for DGB to continue to deal with the situation they're familiar with than to adapt to a whole new system they don't know anything about in advance. However, as for the rest... According to the Emissary of Magic, how magic works for Humans has changed many times. Furthermore the last time it changed was in Pandora's previous incarnation. We don't know exactly how old Pandora was, but we do know that she was 150 when she met the human Blaike Raven, in what appears to be the middle ages (at any rate it has to be after the Greek myths came into being, seeing as Pandora named herself after the mythical Pandora). Assuming Pandora's previous incarnation reset at around 200 years old like most immortals do, the last Magic Change couldn't have been more than 350 years prior to Pandora meeting Blaike (and thus well within human history). So, not quite as extreme an event as you're making it out to be.

Rhoda usually has four cards thanks to Busty, and Catalina and Ashley have both wound up with four cards thanks to Golden Cheerleader, and if those cards can lead to getting more cards there are probably others in the deck that can lead to extra cards as well. So without actually keeping tabs on when the players get and use cards, there's no way to know for sure how many they have (unless you actually see them in the player's hand and the player hasn't just played any cards). It's true that it shouldn't be too hard to follow if you're paying attention (even if Dan doesn't always show the players getting their extra cards) but it hadn't occurred to me that the number of cards the players have would be this important, so I wasn't bothering to keep track.

Huh, well that answers my question about if there was any strategy involved. I guess she must not have discarded the cards she just used yet; given the amount of time implied to have passed I suppose that's realistic, but it is a little confusing as a reader. Maybe in addition to showing a map of the board, Dan should have provided us with a running count of how many cards each player has...

The idea that Arthur is an Elf seems a little far-fetched to me, but there is actually a way it could work for him to be involved in both Magic Changes: if the consulted seers forget their conversation with the Will of Magic once they wake up afterwards. In fact, I've been thinking since not long after this scene started that the Will of Magic might erase seers' memories of helping with the Magic Change. It would help keep the Second Purpose of Seers a secret, and what with them being asleep at the time they wouldn't even have any reason to suspect they forgot anything.

Ah yes. Tom Sewell and I were discussing similar but different ideas of limited magic; his was like Niven's series, while mine was like the Water Cycle. I didn't mention it in those terms, but for my idea to work there would need to be a form of "waste magic" which cannot be used by humans and which over time through some natural process is transformed back into usable magic. And yes, if magic was used faster than it was replenished, there would be shortages; while not quite my original point it boils down to the same thing - if the number of magic users is allowed to increase too high (which under the current system is pretty much inevitable if magic is publicly known) there wouldn't be enough to go around.

Yay for twisted double-starburst background in panel two! (Seriously, that looks really cool.) Well, the non-canon worlds have a tendancy to affect each other in strange and unpredictable ways (such as how in "Oblivious Wand Waving" Tedd vaguely remembered the shopkeeper from the first Goonmanji). However the canon worlds ought to be safe. As for our world, well I don't think her magic can reach us, but every observation has an affect on the observer, and we are seeing this... Well, Ashley still has three cards. But depending on what cards she has she might not be able to buy a two or three space (specifically, if she doesn't have a three-type card and there isn't enough variety of types in her hand). She looks like an old-fashioned mustache-twirling cartoon villain, minus the mustache. I'm guessing "Energized" isn't the only card affecting her that has mental effects... I'm really looking forward to learning how these cards work, both in terms of how they affect the player and in terms of game mechanics. (Not only am I curious for the sake of learning more about the cards, but I want to know if there was any strategy to Ashley's choice, or if she just did it because it sounded like fun.)

Speculation time! I'm currently thinking that Tedd and Arthur are going to continue arguing for a time, then Van is going to speak up and say something neither of them would have thought to say which is enough to convince the Will of Magic. I'm going to further speculate that Magic doesn't really care about the moral and practical arguments Tedd and Arthur are making, and WoM will go with what Van said because Van made it sound more fun/dramatic that way.

I'm not sure what you mean about the depletion of magic being inevitable if new magic was not generated. Animals and plants make heavy use of water without ever significantly diminishing the worldwide water supply; water shortages are the result of water moving from one place to another, as well as in some cases rising human demand, not water being destroyed. Why would magic be different? At any rate, I no longer think my idea fits with what has been revealed so far about magic in the comic; in fact I think your idea the relationship between magic and biological processes makes a lot more sense. It would even mean Greg wasn't so far off the mark as he thought when he referred to the energy he and his students were using in their martial arts as "ki".