ChronosCat

I find it interesting that Nanase's canine form in panel 1 has paws instead of hands, but appears to be otherwise humanoid. Actually, she was in a fox form in the second anniversary filler.

... ok. Ashley and Elliot wouldn't be noteworthy, so who else? ... Specifically it's about Ashley meeting Tedd & Grace; I believe he stated or implied most or all of the rest of the main 8 would be involved as well. So I'm thinking Ashley + everybody. (Well, all the main 8 anyway.) Also, if they're going to be there anyway, there might be time for some hints of Susan + Justin and/or Elliot, and maybe the OT3.

Yeah, you'd need to abandon any community online connected to your real name or which the people you're trying to distance yourself from are aware of. However, for most people I would expect the hardest part about this to be emotional, and someone who could handle the severing of emotional bonds with the people they know in person could probably also be able to handle this sacrifice. (Incidentally, I don't see why you'd have to stop reading the comics you like, so long as you don't discuss them online.) On the other hand, changing your (government approved) ID is a practical challenge, and depending on what details you want to change it may not be possible to do it legally. They could, but without a friend in high places (like Mr. Verres), would they? ...I suppose if it was the easiest way to maintain the masquerade they might, but unless they have actual policies in place, I could also see some people falling through the cracks.

Well, the scales might be the artifact, but if Nanase and Sarah are going to give the crypt a good rating they still need to be able to recover their lost clothing; presumably they would be at the end of the tunnel. I'd thought of that, but so far he's only brought it out for stuff in the main universe. He might have thought it too confusing to bring it out for an alternate universe that isn't likely to be seen in the main story until some grand alternate-universe-crossover story that we won't be seeing for many years (if ever). (That said, I do still think it more likely it isn't canon - I'm just saying the lack of the canon isn't proof.) So, this is mostly speculation and personal head-canon here, but this is how I see it: There is the "Main EGS Multiverse" - the universe the main story is usually about, as well as those connected to it; this multiverse seems to be what Dan is talking about when he says whether something is canon. Then there are stand-alone universes like AF04, Grace-a-Monsters, and Nanase Craft, which could fit into the EGS multiverse but haven't been confirmed as part of it. There's a good chance they are intended to be separate stories just sharing the same characters, but until there's something in canon saying otherwise I'm going to think of them as part of the EGS multiverse anyway. Finally, there is the "Non-canon universe", a world where the cast of EGS are actors playing roles in stories. Some of the Sketchbook images and strips show this world, with the characters not playing any roles. These actors are playing those parts even in the main story; the fourth-wall breaking moments are when they break character (this is my preferred explanation for Matt and Ratt - they were not very cooperative actors and refused to follow the script). Squirrel Dan lives in that world, where he has great powers (though I haven't quite figured out how my "actors" head-canon meshes with the scenes early on where Squirrel Dan was watching other universes through computer monitors and even had buttons that could affect those worlds). The Goonmanji stories are in a strange half-way place between the "Non-cannon Universe" and the universe the actors in it portray. The best explanation I can come up with is that the cast are roleplaying as their canon selves without a pre-written script for them to follow, hence the tattered but sometimes still there fourth wall.

For much of human history (and pre-history), it was possible to move somewhere far away and start over in a new place where nobody knew you. Prior to reliable delivery of mail you could even drop out of contact with those you left behind without it seeming strange. However, starting over was always a lot of work (and it didn't always work out), and many who did it to run away from their problems found they brought their problems with them. In this day and age, you can move away from a physical location, but the internet will still be there wherever you go; to make a proper break you'd need to change your online habits/identity as well. More importantly, a lot of things these days require ID (including most legal jobs, getting a loan, driving a car, etc.) so if an official ID is going to reveal your secret there's really no way you can live an approximation of an "ordinary" middle class life while maintaining that secret. This is particularly relevant for Sam, as any government-issued IDs for him are likely to list him as "female". (This got me wondering if the government in the EGS world would have rules for changing the documentation/IDs for people who are permanently transformed. However, the magic rules prior to Sister III didn't really have many options for permanent transformations, so it might not have came up enough to have any rules set up.)

Most stories are canon to themselves (the only exceptions I can think of is when there's no fourth wall or there's a lot of meta-narrative going on), and any such story can be said to have it's own fictional "universe". Some story-universe exist as parts of larger story-multiverses, or (like the main EGS story) contain a multiverse within their fictional world. However, the universes and multiverses of fiction are often not canon to one another. I'd say the world of Nanase Craft works as a fictional universe; the question is, "Is it part of the multiverse seen in the main EGS story?" In other words, it's canon to itself, but is it canon to the main story of EGS? It's hard to say for sure, but Dan hasn't included any parody worlds among the confirmed "canon-to-main" alternate universes so far, so my guess is "no".

I was actually thinking that maybe Nanase and Sarah would give Diane the artifact at the end of the dungeon, and keep the scales for themselves.

Their most recent save file might not have helped; things had been going downhill for the Germans in Stalingrad for quite some time.

My thinking is that Ms Pompoms dislikes men so much she doesn't see why anybody (male or female) would want to be in a relationship with one.

"That Month"? Which month?

Well, it could be that this change of attitudes is the result of transformation shenanigans, which also affected her teeth. On the other hand, Rhoda is supposed to be puppy-like in the same way that Catalina is cat-like. Could it be she's always had fangs, and just never opened her mouth on-panel in such a way as to show them? (I doubt this, but I think it would be cool if it were the case.) One other possibility comes to mind, but it's not as fun as the first two: Artistic License.

This strip and thread got me thinking about Grace's cover story... On the one hand, it would be easier to remember and give people a better understanding of Grace if the cover story was as close to the truth as possible without breaking the masqurade (I'm not sure how you'd deal with the childhood in a lab part, but the "raised by an abusive kidnapper" part works fine if you leave out his powers and plans for world domination). On the other hand, it wouldn't really be fair to expect Grace to tell everyone she was abused, and I'm glad Mr. Verres didn't ask that of her.

Well, yes. I was only referring to the end of stories, not the end of story chapters.

http://egscomics.com/comic/tsos-31 ...Actually Grace, I'm pretty sure Pandora didn't make the stars (or become the stars, or anything like that).

Well, I don't know if this was planned by the creators of the Crypt (it might just be how they write), but it's not written in English or apparently any language Sarah and Nanase are both familiar with. There's thus the chance of a miss-communication leading to Sarah selecting the wrong setting on the dial...

The way I remember it, he's ended almost all the main-comic stories (and occasionally NP stories as well) for a number of years with "[story title] - The End". Of course, he also likes to do epilogues. This could be the end of the climax of "The Secret of Sam", with the rest of the story devoted to wrapping things up and setting up future plot threads.

Ooohhh, those lights! And here I thought we were about to have a re-enactment of that scene in the Lion King where Timone, Pumba, and Simba argue about what stars are.

It just occurred to me you forgot an important event yesterday: 2002 - The first strip of a webcomic we're all familiar with was posted.

I spent three and a half hours today snowblowing and shoveling, and it's still snowing. I think I'll get the rest of it tomorrow morning....

So it turns out I like two people being made (almost?) physically identical even more than two people being made almost physically identical except for color. Now I really wish Dan had gone this route (perhaps with not-really-there floating name tags or something in strips where it would be too confusing).

So he cried constantly for seven and a half years, until Spider-man was created?

So, apparently Grace thinks there's something off about Sam's voice, or maybe she has some sense even without her antennae that makes her feel something is wrong. My guesses: - Sam has started taking hormones, and it's affecting his voice. (While this is the most mundane answer, I seem to recall indications Sam lives with his family who don't know about him being transgender, so that would make this option unlikely.) - The Sam we know has a near-identical twin (possibly one who is a non-transgender male), and they both sometimes use the "Sam" name. This is the twin. - Someone with nefarious purposes is masqurading as Sam. (...To pick up Sam's comics? Okay, the plot here is not immediately obvious.) Hey, take it to the pacing thread! I think she deliberately let out her antennae to find out what's going on. And I think what Grace finds out is what is going to affect the situation.

Maybe people were getting to graphic with the shipping?

I see your point; the only pre-US governments which could be said to have any continuity with the modern US government would be the colonial governments (particularly the British-affiliated ones). It just wasn't originally clear to me that was what you meant, and Native American civilizations are ignored or forgotten so much that I like to remind people about them whenever it seems like that might be happening.

That depends on how you define "nation". There were some city-states, as well as the Iroquois Confederacy... And actually the term "nation" is often used to describe Native American tribes (and not just modern ones). Also, outside of what is now the US there have been various Pre-Columbian empires in the Americas, such as the Aztec and Inca.