Xenophon Hendrix

Ah, the bad old days. The electronic revolution really has been wonderful. About the only thing I miss about the old ways is LP covers.

It's a convention of lots of comics that they are set in the now. You just have to accept the changing technology and pop-culture references as part of your suspension of disbelief.

I've read the first six chapters of Unsong so far. The author's mind is remarkable.

Meta reasons. I'm assuming the author doesn't want to draw flak from adherents of today's major religions.

I didn't perceive it as a discontinuity.

I've been assuming that the immortals were the pagan gods.

To make sure I was clear, I intended my post as praise for the character development, not criticism of a discontinuity.

I just noticed how well this page goes with this page four years later. Grace has gone from a non-nerd to a nerd master.

Short of an asteroid impact or the equivalent, I can't see any way the Dunkel residence isn't going to become a zoo of reporters, curiosity seekers, and lifestyle geeks. It should provide ample opportunity for comedy. As for giving Elliot plausible deniability about being Cheerleadra, all that's required is them being seen at the same time. There doesn't have to be any long interaction with others or with each other. That minimizes the chance of mistakes. Given the TF gun, multiple persons can be used to portray Elliot, Ellen, and Cheerleadra. Examples: Cheerleadra (Nanase) has agreed to do a signing at Salty Crackers. Elliot and Ellen join the line to get her autograph. Justin and Grace are working the counter. Cheerleadra (Grace) has agreed to do a similar signing at Tensided's video store. Elliot has resumed temporary employment to help with crowd control. Susan is working, too. Cheerleadra (Elliot) is seen in the park talking to Ellen, Nanase, and Elliot (Tedd). No one yet knows much about Cheerleadra's personality or habits, so anyone who can hover a bit should be able to portray her. They could conceivably play an impressive shell game, just as long as they don't get too cute. No long speeches. No press conferences.

Well, back in the "New and Old Flames" half-arc, it looked like Pandora really was axe crazy. Now, however, it's looking like she was framed for those particular misdeeds.

You know, the Demonic Duck might be the creation of an immortal, just like the hammers turned out to be.

Yeah, this is a strong blow against my idea. Eh, the idea is that both Grace and the Wizard are dreaming, so the Emissary doesn't actually know what he knows when awake.

In the comic, we have only seen a short amount of time from Elliot's point of view since he was outed. The last time we saw Elliot, it probably hadn't hit the news yet. I imagine that Edward did call Elliot, though, before the two of them turned if for the night.

I think the consensus is "mother."

It's a summon poop spell, and it's eventually going to be given to Rich.

Otherguy Overby

I have become obsessed with this YouTube channel. Irish accents make everything better.

How's this for a rationalization? Ashley has been into transformation for a long time. As a child, she tried transforming herself over and over again until she gave up trying. Now that she is marked, she isn't going to change until she tries to change, or at least wishes to change, but she has long since given up trying and wishing. There is still the one on the lower left that no one seems to have a good idea about what it's supposed to represent.

Emissary: All of this was to give your son a better future? Pandora: Yes. Emissary: Now that I can understand. I'm going to be very disappointed if the Emissary isn't Edward.

Yes, but magic likes drama. If she retired from monster hunting and had kids, it's possible that she has experienced no moments dramatic enough to bring her magic back. Would it not make an excellent story line on EGS: something menaces the Kitsunes, there is a thrum of doom, and Mrs. Kitsune's magic comes back in the nick of time?

Someone in the old forum came up with the brilliant suggestion that Mrs. Kitsune is burned out. This fits in beautifully with what we know about her family history. We know that they are a long line of monster hunters. She could have been one herself before she burned out and decided to have a couple kids to carry on the family line. I think her rearing of Nanase has been done with great skill and malice aforethought. Nanase is fluent in three languages. She is in Raven's class. She has studied magically potent martial arts for years. Nanase remarked that she actually is given a great deal of freedom as long as she keeps up with her schoolwork. She even has been given rinky dink stuff to rebel against that is important to teenagers but trivial in the long run: clothing, "you're going to be a housewife and mother." I even think the whole housewife-and-mother thing has a dual purpose of letting Nanase know that she doesn't have to go into the family business. Note that Mrs. Kitsune is fully aware that Ellen and Nanase have been looking of mysteries to solve and monsters to hunt.

Noah is a greater chimera. He was created in an Uryuom egg, and I think one of his gene donors was Noriko. He could be almost a year younger than Tedd and still be in the same grade, and when he told Elliot his parents were dead, he could have been referring to his custodial parents.

I'm predicting that there is going to be a "Brothers" arc coming up where Tedd gets to meet his brother, (which I still think is Noah).

Yep. It's a tautology, but it's not apparent to most persons. Nature keeps score in only one way. If something increases descendants, nature selects for it. If something decreases descendants, nature selects against it.

Body chemistry influences the mind, and men and women have different body chemistries. A transformation as thorough as the TF gun certainly would influence thinking. The question is how much? I would love to do the experiment.