Darth Fluffy

Might they even have the ability to plant false memories? The premise was a non-overlapping set of amino acids, some from earth, some from elsewhere. If nothing on earth normally contained some of the amino acids her body needed, she would need supplements. Even more so for the uryuoms (who, to be fair, may be farming their own off-world veggies locally. I'm not a biologist, but my gut says that the amino acids we use is a sparse set, and this scenario is likely, although it is also likely that we would have some basic ones in common. Aliens need not be DNA based, but I'm assuming uryuoms are if we can in any sense breed with them. Cool factoid. Is that true for rodents in general? Not following you. Why can Grace produce an uryuom egg? I don't recall that. The second part makes less sense, I think the egg/uterus is either/or, although like many things, if you dig deep enough you might find exceptions. Sorry, lost me again; I'm not seeing the distinction between hybrid and lespuko. (Backing up a second, she's not a hybrid as we understand it in our universe, a produce of two different life forms that are close enough to naturally interbreed. It's all about the egg/blender) No, not at all, that was where I was going with the questions you quoted. True. there is much about her that suggests that she is mature, but we don't know because we don't know her biology. That fits her initial level of naivety. Tough to imagine this making evolutionary sense. The uryuoms are then the first sex, defined as sexless (at least by earth standards) and the second sex is the passive, temporary shelter egg, which if not for the genetic maintenance function it must play, would be just a shelter for the sperm-analogs. The implication is that the uryuoms are more recently out of the sea on their world than we are on ours; their mating style is like that of sea life. Without specific sperm and egg, the sperm-analog contributions of the parents must be moderated by the egg shelter, to avoid immediate inbreeding and to maintain some semblance of how much genetic material does the offspring have. Thus "second sex" as opposed to mere shelter. Contributes nothing directly, but necessary to maintain the generations. Phillip Jose Farmer wrote a short story like that, ages ago, a race that required a third party to mate, who was in effect the host for the other two's offspring. Come to think of it, we do that with surrogate mothers. Legally, that can get very sticky. ... or number of parents. Seems likely that it's not entirely natural.

Peculiar for my perception of the EGS universe, not based on our own. Although I think there is quite a bit of truth to this as well, many folks waiting until college to become active. <shrug> Dunno, just an impression. I could even take Sarah's "I'm still a virgin" complaint as more about Elliot not taking the initiative than about actually wishing she wasn't a virgin. From what I know of women, never having been one, she wants to feel valued and desired; sex is good, but it's not the main goal. I'm sure YMMV; there's 7 billion of us, with a varied mix of motivations. (I'm assuming they have a similarly populated planet.)

She already knows Ellen is not Elliot's twin, but was created by the dewitchery diamond. I can't recall her seeing Ellen being obviously affectionate with Nanase. But Ashley not wanting to hurt people should mean she won't mess with their relationship. And wanting to be with Elliot with Elliot as a girl is a pretty low bar. I suspect she prefers part time anyway. I do see her as being bonded to Ashley through the shared ordeal, and feeling protective of Ashley, who was after all, a near neophyte in dealing with the supernatural (although , she did well with the griffins.)

Nothing Ellen's said in the last two comics seems overly awkward; the reactions seem to be a bit exaggerated. Foreshadowing of trouble between Elliot and Ashley? I would not have expected that, but in spite of the mall date starting out so well, Ashley's been stressed and had negative emotional response to their time together, and/or from the keeping of secrets. Maybe Liz was foreshadowing as well.

You post what you post, and it is unintrusively moderated, but you don't have a frikkin stupid AI telling you you can only read the top two posts, and you should read these <unrelated bull$#!7> instead. I hate what the big players are doing with (so called) AI. God, I remember way back when I used to get a list of things on You Tube related to my search query. Those were the days. And yes, an alias is a nice plus.

I don't see it. She's the token ace, I think she's going to stay there. That said, if she were open to relationship, she could go either way, that's pretty much canon.

I think of it as "a couple of years ago", non-specific, so it's never exactly wrong. EGS started in 2002, and the characters have aged, but not much (but more than many newsprint comics in their era), so there's bound to be anachronisms if you look for them. I think that the rate that happens at is increasing; decades ago I expected stuff to last, now, not so much. two years for consumer electronics is getting dated, five is "We don't support that.", no parts, no special device specific batteries. Even large appliances like washers and driers seem flimsier. So they age out quicker. The way we deal with information is changing on some similar cycle. Even this forum style is archaic. Probably why there's so many old timers.

Sadly, I remember the show. And the tune. And the words. And the airport. I went with my parents to pick people up at Idlewild. The current Pan Am era "eyesore" was new and amazing. And they had jets; iirc, our local airport only handled props. My favorite Fred Gwynne thing was the judge in My Cousin, Vinnie.

They split up Poland, and yes, the Third Reich was the "sufficient mutual interests".

That might be before Elliot's parents' time.

Mostly, not gonna happen, you're talking career suicide, although, we owe our present existence to a few instances of individuals not following their protocol and exercising a healthy level of skepticism at automated warning calling for them to launch during the cold war. Contrary to human nature, these people weren't punished for being sensible. Allies tend to fact check, yes. Wonder why they feel that need? Of course, they will be predisposed toward disbelief; they will have a delayed reaction as they investigate, but with sufficient mutual interest, they can be persuaded. Recall, in WWII, the Soviet Union sided with Germany initially. There is that; credibility up the chain is a factor.

Good points. Compartmentalized, report it up the chain. Someone has oversight, disseminates the warnings. The organization heads notify their alert chains. IRL, you get graded on doing that fast. Allies are an additional layer of complexity, but there are protocols in place for that, you follow them. Hell, if you need to, there's protocols for giving enemy states a heads up. Even people you don't have a diplomatic relationship with; you have a third party pre-selected. If you expect it might become a crater, you place observers, or at least fly a drone nearby. Since those were junk artifacts, you're right , it probably was a low priority facility.

I mostly agree with most of what you are saying, but the question still stands, "Did Arthur know that the artifacts were a threat, and if so, why did he not beam the troops in without delay (He, Agent Cranium, and Agent Wolf responded almost immediately when the alarm triggered), or if not, why did he pull out the night watchman and leave the lights on (if he did not perceive a threat)?" He's inconsistent with either assumption of his knowledge. The only ground I can see to resolve this, and it's weak, is "It's a hazard, let's pull the guard out; but everyone is tired, let's wait until tomorrow to deal with it." The only thing that supports that is he didn't know anyone would show up that particular evening. Telling the guard to watch from a vehicle might have made some sense. It raises another point about how various agents at presumably disparate locations in their off hours were able to simultaneously teleport in on short notice. Kudos on the preparation that went into that level of coordination. (Agent Wolf fell into a crater because it was new and unexpected, that does not invalidate the preparation.)

Still a ticking time bomb with the increased ambient magic, or did he not have a reason to evacuate the facility?

Arthur's intentions are unclear, beyond pursuit and apprehension. "He made a young woman cry, Sybil" doesn't speak about consequences. Personally, I think Arthur's logic leaves something to be desired. Magus was stuck in between universes, presumably Arthur understands at least the gist of this from the recordings. He overstepped some bounds in his efforts to free himself, but he didn't have options, that should be fairly clear, and he acted responsibly to clean up his mess, within the context of his understanding. He also took out Sirleck, who survived the purge and needed removal. Ellen's placing blame on Magus here for the golem also makes little sense. She's technically correct, but the artifacts where on a hair trigger due to a change in magic that just happened, and Magus would not have known about. Arguably, they would have awakened from the ambient magic, but randomly at less convenient times, and by speeding it up, he made it possible for them to be dealt with. <shrug>, Once again, at least he's cleaning up his mess. It is significant that no one got hurt (I'm not counting the golem). And Kevin got a custodian, solving a problem for Arthur. Ashley was stressed by the situation, and Magus did have some options in that regard, he could have for instance left her at Elliot's home. I'm not sure that would have been better. It is not really clear that Magus "made Ashley cry"; he was a factor, but so were the unstable artifacts, which Arthur should have known about, he was warned by magic, and though apparently he returned too late to have done much, he could have dispatched agents ahead instead of waiting. He appears to be at least as culpable through his inaction. Considering the massive existential trauma Magus has been through, "made Ashley cry" seems like small potatos; he was considerate of her feelings and sheltered her quite a bit. It is not clear what Arthur's authority is in this. Presumably he's bound by some semblance of law, if not law, oversight, as Edward was. "Made a young woman cry", while unpleasant, does not sound like a prosecutable criminal offense. I could see an extralegal, "We need to incarcerate Magus and study him because he's from another universe", but I think they're past that kind of thinking. Also, his supervisor is already sensitized from Edward's overreaction to his subordinates reacting too emotionally to circumstances of their duties. It seems like Arthur is allowing his own emotions to carry him into similar ground. It seems the most that Arthur could do is give Magus a stern talking to; and even that would be a waste. Magus seems to be aware of the choices he's made and the consequences, a lecture from Arthur would add little. If he really wanted to contribute, Arthur should track Magus down and offer to help research a way home.

That works. "Atoning" would be still "Dealing with the mess I created". Presumably then, since the "diamond" is destroyed and Magus is the last one, and Abraham no longer feels compelled to be a statue. I know Ellen is pissed at Magus, but I doubt she's without any sympathy. I think an acknowledgement and apology would be enough. Magus, on the other hand, probably wants to avoid all conflict and potential to do damage and incur further dept. He would probably seek out Elliot and Ellen to apologize before he leaves, he knows where they live, but not before he knows how to return to his home universe, for quick getaway. I'm sure we'll see him again. That had crossed my mind. Although "You people" is Elliot.

It is interesting that he contrasts "lying dormant in stone" with "living". That implies he cannot self-launch out of stone, he has to preset the parameters of his own release. Which makes me wonder, what are the circumstances that would release him to atone. Since he's fixated on the dewitchery diamond, it would probably still be part of the formula.

I don't recall specifically that Abraham's stoning is a self imposed hibernation, I took it to be an imposed punishment or curse, but it does not seem out of character for him that it could be self imposed. Do you recall if there is a specific place the comic or Dan's commentary said so? I didn't spot the inscription change either. ... it was even lamp shaded in the commentary. ... the change in the inscription seems to indicate the statue is self imposed. If it was external, it should not have changed. OTOH, having just reread the commentary on the link you posted, I have to say, that hat is not a fedora, the brim is too narrow. It's a trilby. ... I don't see how Abraham is going to be aware of events while in statue form to release himself to atone. If he was going to atone to the people he recently hurt, he should have done something more proactive. Hiding in stone form isn't assisting anyone. It's more like he thinks he's atoning by ducking out. I know, it goes against everything I believe about. I kind of figured that Ellen and Nanase might be doing the nanasty. The level of disappointment when Grace asked to double date seemed to indicate thwarted expectations.

Already released himself: I figured he'd be totally unaware while he's a statue; that it was the spell that put him there that was releasing him (like an AI) rather than his own efforts. Released by the diamond: That seems particularly plausible, once the diamond is gone, his curse (if it is that) has not meaning. But it also seemed plausible that he could be stuck as a statue. It is also possible that he would awaken to take out Magus. Though Magus is naturally born, from the point of view of this universe, he's a suddenly released duplicate of Elliot. DBG wizards: I had the impression that would be a temporary reprieve, but you make a good point, why not leave him freed. If they freed him; maybe they arranged to commune with him still as a statue. It was not entirely clear that they were successful. Get Ellen to pop him out: This was stated in this thread (Weirdee, four posts up) and was what my question was asking about. I don't recall any power Ellen has that can release Abraham. Nor Magus, who is also named Ellen. Although we don't have a clear notion of his powers, they seem to be primarily combat oriented. Probably a moot point, I don't think Abraham is scheduled for another appearance.

How can Ellen release Abraham?

Yep, that's why I linked the Wiki article four posts up. The Kármán line is kind of an international standard but wouldn't you know, someone has to be a major hold out. The USAF currently uses 50 miles (80 km), approximately the mesopause (85 km, but none of these are exact nor even consistent around the planet nor stable) [The Kármán line is also an approximation.] NASA follows suit with the USAF, to avoid conflicts of "Of the folks in this vehicle, the Air Force crew members are in space, but the civilian crew members are not." It gets weirder. When this revision of NASA's definition of space took place in 2005, three civilian X-15 pilots were awarded civilian astronaut wings, 35 years after the fact, and two of those were posthumous. The US Army (which doesn't participate as much in space ops) goes with low perigee for an orbital vehicle, then does not specify an altitude. (The article cites it as "US military", but that obviously leaves out the USAF, and the citation link is to an Army document. This page spells out who follows which rule.) You can read the bloody details, but an additional weirdness is that since altitude is unspecified as is the method of determining perigee, it could mean the 159 km figure for a circular orbit that you cite, of it could mean 130 km, stated to be the lowest possible perigee of an elliptical orbit. (This makes no sense to me. If you have to orbit at 150 km, 130 has too much drag, then that drag should affect you when you dip down to it on each pass in an elliptical orbit. Maybe there's an unstated criteria of how long the orbit will last to be "stable".) [Clearly, the US leads in not having our $#!% together regarding defining space.] This definition is of import to distinguish between sovereign airspace and outer space where space law applies. Once the lawyers start their feeding frenzy, I'm sure the weirdness will escalate.

I am fairly certain you would not have nearly that long. I can hold my breath under water for a minute without much effort. I have had altitude training in a pressure chamber. One of the "This is why you're doing this" demos was for one person to go off oxygen at a simulated 40,000 feet. (It may have been a little higher, like 42,000; the training was many years ago). They had a Tupperware toddler puzzle, the red and blue ball with the slots for the yellow shapes, and their task when they went off oxygen was to put in as many as they could. They got one in, then froze and started shaking, then the instructor put their oxygen mask back on for them. Seconds of useful activity, at best. "In space, someone might hear you scream" was meant to be a reference to the movie catchphrase, nothing more. If you want a takeaway, these terms we take for granted, "space", "vacuum", "atmosphere" are somewhat relative terms. The definition of space, particularly where it starts, has changed over time, and has legal implications. Not everyone agrees on the definition. Our moon has an atmosphere; it's tenuous, but it exists, it can be characterized, and it has a wiki article. Of course, relative to some of our neighbors, we live in a near vacuum ourselves. This is not unusual; any field of study will break the nominal vocabulary and require distinguishing new shades of meaning.

Yes, everyone does. 1:1 ratio. Stopping would be a trick. Also, I replace myself with an exact duplicate, constantly. But these are not particularly illuminating observations.

I do recall that.

Technically in space, someone could hear you scream, albeit, within a narrow zone, and you'd have seconds of useful consciousness, and it would not propagate well, ...