Pharaoh RutinTutin

So where's the Duck?

Grace is transforming into her Squirrel form. At that size, the caltrops are not dangerous, and she can probably fit about fifty dice in her squirrely cheek pouches. As for who might walk in? I expect the Spanish Inquisition.

Is it possible that the "Ditzy" is a mental filter that Nanase can override with intent or effort? If so, is Nanase willingly playing the "Ditzy" role to force Sarah into solving this part of the puzzle?

I realized after posting this in the "History" thread that it actually belongs here.

14 December 557 – Constantinople is severely damaged by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. This is clearly divine retribution towards humans daring to inhabit a geologically unstable planet. 835 – Sweet Dew Incident: Emperor Wenzong of the Tang dynasty conspires to kill the powerful eunuchs of the Tang court, but the plot is foiled. Why do you want to kill the eunuchs? Haven't they given enough already? These men are truly cut out for their jobs. 1542 – Princess Mary Stuart becomes Queen of Scots at the age of only one week on the death of her father, James V of Scotland. Would a six day old girl truly be any worse than {Insert any world leader}? 1782 – A good day to be French. The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly 2 km (1.2 mi). 1812 – A not-so-good day to be French. The French invasion of Russia comes to an end as the remnants of the Grande Armée are expelled from Russia. 1836 – The Toledo War unofficially ends. The causes date back to some badly drawn maps from the period just after the Revolutionary War. Michigan was forced to accept losing Toledo to Ohio and was given the Upper Peninsula as a conciliation prize. Today, Michigan is grateful to be rid of Toledo (Detroit alone is bad enough) and enjoys the wildlife, timber, and mineral resources of the Upper Peninsula. 1896 – The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened. This has nothing to do with the American Abolitionist Movement or the US Civil War. This Underground Railway is the Glasgow District Subway Company. And no Five Dollar Footlongs either. Well, maybe if you want the haggis... 1900 – Quantum mechanics: Max Planck presents a theoretical derivation of his black-body radiation law. Herr Doktor Planck, why did you chose that adjective to name this natural law? Any humorous comment I might make will sound needlessly racist. 1911 – Roald Amundsen's team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole. Considering that this team started in Norway, they effectively gave everyone else attempting to reach the South Pole a head start of thousands of miles. And they still got there first. 1918 – The 1918 United Kingdom general election occurred, the first where women were permitted to vote. It turns out that women and men are equally capable of choosing the wrong candidates. 1920 – Death of George Gipp, American football player (b. 1895). "I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy." To be performed by Ronald Reagan in the 1940 film, Knute Rockne, All American. 1939 – Winter War: The Soviet Union is expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland. And there are still people who wonder why a country like Finland would actively ally itself with Nazi Germany. 1940 – Plutonium (specifically Pu-238) is first isolated at Berkeley, California. I suppose that isn't the strangest thing with which anyone has experimented in Berkeley. 1941 – World War II: Japan signs a treaty of alliance with Thailand. Japan is already controlling significant portions of China. The British Empire is trying to defend Australia and keep India from exploding in revolution while simultaneously clinging for life in Europe. And the Americans have just lost most of their Pacific Fleet and are only now reluctantly entering the war. What was Thailand really supposed to do when the Japanese were already in Bangkok? 1948 – Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann are granted a patent for their cathode-ray tube amusement device, the earliest known interactive electronic game. It was never manufactured or marketed, so it had no effect on the future video game industry. The device is not generally considered a candidate for the title of the first video game, as while it had an electronic display it did not run on a computing device. Despite all that, it was still relevant to the early history of video games. Didn't they realize how close they were to a fully electronic version of Battleship? 1958 – The 3rd Soviet Antarctic Expedition becomes the first to reach the southern pole of inaccessibility. But if they reached it, doesn't that mean that it is actually accessible? 1962 – NASA's Mariner 2 becomes the first spacecraft to fly by Venus. This begins a long series of fly-bys, orbiters, and landers from every spacefaring nation on Earth. Nothing sparks scientific competition like some good old Freudian Venus Envy. 2017 – The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion. Who's the leader of the club that now owns you and me? M-I-C- -K-E-Y- -M-O-U-S-E!

13 December 902 – Battle of the Holme: Anglo-Saxon forces are defeated by Danish Vikings under Æthelwold (a son of Æthelred of Wessex) who is killed in battle. Are we to be disappointed in the Anglo-Saxons because they were defeated by a dead Viking? Or should we be impressed that a dead Viking could defeat the Anglo-Saxons? 1294 – Saint Celestine V resigns the papacy after only five months to return to his previous life as an ascetic hermit. This plan is ruined when his successor, Boniface VIII, subsequently imprisons him in the castle of Fumone in the Campagna region, in order to prevent his potential installation as antipope. The next pope to resign of his own accord was Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, 719 years later. Apparently the Vatican never established a budget for Papal pensions. 1545 – Pope Paul III begins the Council of Trent. Bishops assemble to decide once and for all for the nineteenth time what it is to be Christian. 1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail from Plymouth, England, on his round-the-world voyage. You know Captain Drake had his ducks in a row. 1636 – The Massachusetts Bay Colony organizes three militia regiments to defend the colony against the Pequot Indians. This organization is recognized today as the founding of the National Guard of the United States. Minutemen, Rainbow Division, and Weekend Warriors of all eras fall in formation. 1642 – Abel Tasman is the first recorded European to sight New Zealand. Initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland. His initial estimates that this land connected to South America, or at least occupied most of the space between Australia and South America, proved to be somewhat incorrect. 1862 – American Civil War: At the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee defeats Union Major General Ambrose Burnside. Despite the loss, General Burnside still had the best facial hair of any officer in that war. 1895 – First complete execution of Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony. Wouldn't an "incomplete" execution actually be a wounding of the Symphony? 1903 – Italo Marciony (or Marcioni), patents the earliest version of the ice cream cone mound in New Jersey. Never before have headaches tasted so good. 1925 – Birth of Dick Van Dyke, American actor, singer, dancer, and last man to fall to the Ottoman Empire. 1928 – George Gershwin's "An American In Paris" premieres at Carnegie Hall (NYC). It sounds like a good show, but I get so self conscious at fancy events. I'm never sure I'm dressed appropriately. If only there was some way to make the formal aspects of menswear easier to use... 1928 – Clip-on tie designed. Thank you. 1929 – Birth of Christopher Plummer, Canadian actor and producer. Apparently a 13 December birthday is helpful towards being cast as Julie Andrews' co-star. 1948 – Happy Birthday to the Rock and Roll Republican. Ted Nugent is now 70. 1960 – While Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia visits Brazil, his Imperial Bodyguard seizes the capital and proclaims him deposed and his son, Crown Prince Asfa Wossen, Emperor. Nothing quite like getting fired while you're on vacation. 2003 – Iraq War: Operation Red Dawn: Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit. Hiding in a basement for months without shaving and living off Mars bars? Why does that sound both disgusting and appealing?

Tensaided will believe that Tedds's behavior was a reaction to his legendary game and trash-talk skills. It wasn't of course, but Tensaided won't know that. Will this throw Tensaided off of his own game? Could he end up losing to Rich or Larry?

This is... That is to say.... What I mean to.... Ok. I don't get it.

11 December 861 – Assassination of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil by the Turkish guard, who raise al-Muntasir to the throne. Start of the "Anarchy at Samarra". Killed by your own guards. A quite common cause of death among monarchs and other politicians throughout history. 969 – Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas is assassinated by his wife Theophano and her lover, the later Emperor John I Tzimiskes. Killed by your relatives and "loved ones". Practically a requirement for this to show up in every ruling dynasty at least once. 1282 – Battle of Orewin Bridge: Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, the last native Prince of Wales, is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, in mid-Wales. Killed in battle. It lacks the personal touch found in some other methods of regicide. But if your side wins despite your death, it practically guarantees you an equestrian statue. 1792 – French Revolution: King Louis XVI of France is put on trial for treason by the National Convention. Monsieur Capet, it does not mater how you plead, what kind of deal you may offer, what evidence you may present, or how you may argue your case. You will soon demonstrate yet another unpleasant way for a king to lose his crown. (In your case, by losing a place to wear it.) 1931 – HEY YOU GUYS!!! It's Rita Moreno's Birthday. 1931 – Statute of Westminster 1931: The British Parliament establishes legislative equality between the UK and the Dominions of the Commonwealth—Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland. Does this mean that the Dominions are now independent and sovereign states or is this a symbolic shift that maintains London's control over the Colonies in a slightly less direct manner? Yes. One point that bears stating is that the various Dominions must now agree on matters of royal succession. But how often would that question arise? 1936 – Abdication Crisis: Edward VIII's abdication as King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India, becomes effective. This required signing fifteen separate abdication notices the previous day. Introduced as "Prince Edward", the former King delivers an address to the people on BBC, then leaves the country. So it is at least possible for a King to no longer be King, and still remain alive. 1941 – World War II: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States, following the Americans' declaration of war on the Empire of Japan in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States, in turn, declares war on them. I would ask what Hitler and Mussolini were thinking when they did that, but I really don't want to think like them. 1964 – Che Guevara speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. Someone who has never been identified fires a mortar shell at the UN building while he is speaking. Apparently firing mortar shells is common enough in the Big Apple that no one notices who shoots them. 1968 – The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, featuring the Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull, the Who, Taj Mahal, Marianne Faithfull, and the Dirty Mac with Yoko Ono, is filmed in Wembley, London. A shame they couldn't book any big names for the gig. 1972 – Apollo 17 officially becomes the sixth and last Apollo mission to land on the Moon. The Secret missions to the moon continue with the next 1978 – The Lufthansa heist is committed by a group led by Lucchese family associate Jimmy Burke. It was the largest cash robbery ever committed on American soil, at that time. $5 Million in cash, $875,000 in jewelry. The driver of a van used in the heist leaves it parked in a "No Parking" zone where it is discovered by police. This leads to the identification, arrest, or deaths of most of the major players. The problem with being a criminal mastermind is that you must rely on other criminals who are not masterminds. Also, in 2003, the UN General Assembly declared 11 December to be International Mountain Day. So give mountains to all your friends and relatives.

Should we be impressed, surprised, or disappointed that in an EGS story involving transformations, it took nearly two months to get to the first shrinking?

The remarkable thing is that less than a year ago, comic time, Grace was a controlled substance. Completely unavailable Over-The-Counter or Non-Prescription.

Berserker Nurses are frequently unionized. So you should only need to wait until the coffee break. Interns, on the other hand, are often desperate, overworked, sleep deprived, and malnourished. Most of them are not professional berserkers, they just get that way.

09 December 480 – Odoacer, first King of Italy, occupies Dalmatia. The Western Roman Empire has gone to the dogs. 1531 – The Virgin of Guadalupe first appears to Juan Diego at Tepeyac, Mexico City. On a hill that was the site of a shrine to a much loved Aztec mother goddess who was venerated each year on the winter solstice... Does this seem a bit familiar? 1793 – New York City's first daily newspaper, the American Minerva, is established by Noah Webster. Feel pity for any editor who lets a spelling error make it to press. 1851 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal. The founding members include a police officer, a construction worker, and an Indian 1935 – Student protests in Beiping (now Beijing)'s Tiananmen Square, dispersed by government. Seems harsh for a simple student protest. I'm sure nothing like this will happen again. 1946 – The "Subsequent Nuremberg trials" begin with the "Doctors' trial", prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia. But they had a prescription... 1950 – Cold War: Harry Gold is sentenced to 30 years in jail for helping Klaus Fuchs pass information about the Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union. His testimony is later instrumental in the prosecution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Eventually he would be paroled 1965. If you want small offenders to turn against big offenders, you normally need to offer them something more than half off a thirty year sentence. 1953 – Red Scare: General Electric announces that all communist employees will be discharged from the company. Because a worker's opinion about politics or the state's role in economic planning and social welfare matters far more than their ability as an engineer or technician. 1960 – The first episode of Coronation Street, the world's longest-running television soap opera, is broadcast in the United Kingdom. Still not as entertaining as the real life soap opera in Britain punctuated by actual Coronations. 1962 – The Petrified Forest National Park is established in Arizona. Do we need to rake this forest as well? 1965 – Kecksburg UFO incident: A fireball is seen from Michigan to Pennsylvania; witnesses report something crashing in the woods near Pittsburgh. Official word from NASA is that it was a Soviet satellite that burned up while reentering the atmosphere at an odd angle, and the other NASA documents related to this were "lost". There is speculation that NASA never had those documents in the first place because the civilian NASA investigators at the time may have been military investigators in plain clothes presenting themselves as NASA. 1965 – A Charlie Brown Christmas, first in a series of Peanuts television specials, debuts on CBS. A simply animated special lamenting the commercialization of Christmas becomes simply the most commercially successful animated Christmas special ever. 1968 – Douglas Engelbart gave what became known as "The Mother of All Demos", publicly debuting the computer mouse, hypertext, and the bit-mapped graphical user interface using the oN-Line System (NLS). And he didn't even need to show a funny cat video. 1973 – British and Irish authorities sign the Sunningdale Agreement in an attempt to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland. A vocal, and potentially violent, faction refuses to accept that the majority in Northern Ireland would rather remain associated with Britain instead of Ireland. But this should straighten itself out before too long. 1979 – The eradication of the smallpox virus is certified, making smallpox the first of only two diseases that have been driven to extinction (rinderpest in 2011 being the other). Of all the species humans have driven to extinction, only two have been diseases? We weren't even trying to eliminate the Passenger Pigeon. Thylacine was gone before we realized it was disappearing. And we can't do the same thing to Escherichia coli? 2008 – The Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. And we thought this kind of politics had ended in Illinois with the death of the Capone era. Also, 09 December is Anna's Day. The day to start the preparation process of the lutefisk to be consumed on Christmas Eve, as well as a Swedish name day, celebrating all people named Anna. (Sweden and Finland). Just in case there are any health concerns, The Wisconsin Employees' Right to Know Law specifically exempts lutefisk in defining "toxic substances". It may seem fishy, but you can't lye about this kind of tradition.

08 December 877 – Louis the Stammerer (son of Charles the Bald) is crowned king of the West Frankish Kingdom at Compiegne. Eventually Europe would decide to simply add Roman Numerals to identify monarchs with the same name rather than rely on the comments of a elementary history class. 1912 – Leaders of the German Empire hold an Imperial War Council to discuss the possibility that war might break out. Spoiler Alert: War might break out. 1914 – World War I: A squadron of Britain's Royal Navy defeats the Imperial German East Asia Squadron in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. War broke out. 1922 – Northern Ireland ceases to be part of the Irish Free State. A vocal, and potentially violent faction, refuses to accept that the majority in Northern Ireland would rather remain associated with Britain instead of Ireland. But this should straighten itself out before too long. 1941 – World War II: While attacking Pearl Harbor on December 07, on the other side of the International Date Line Japanese forces simultaneously invade Shanghai International Settlement, Malaya, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies. and 1941 – World War II: Again east of the International Date Line, Japan declares war against the United States and the British Empire. This declaration would be reprinted in Japanese newspapers on the 8th of every month until the end of the war. and 1941 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares December 7 to be "a date which will live in infamy", after which the U.S. declares war on Japan. later Winston Churchill would question the wisdom of Japan when they decided to simultaneously declare war on both the British Empire and the United States. A good answer to that question has yet to be found. 2013 – Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all 7 continents. So which band will be the first to perform on all 8 planets of the Solar System? And I do mean PLANETS. Not asteroids. Not Moons (the Europa and Enceladus concerts will NOT count). Not Dwarf worlds (Pluto was always a Mickey Mouse planet anyway).

Now I am imagining palm trees with coconuts that resemble the head of Patrick Stewart