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Comic for Wednesday, Jan 11, 2023 Diane has interesting eyes. In the first panel, the iris an pupil have reappeared, but the eyeball has grown larger, requiring a larger socket. Unless they've flattened front to back, they are shoving deep into her head. In the last panel, they have returned to a normal size, but the sclera is now black, and the iris and pupil are white. She must be functionally blind at that point. Diane says her brain is processing all the information, but I think it is healing the damage from the first panel. So, she's a shapeshifter, but still on the learning curve. Arguably, none of that happened, it's just a way of expressing her surprise. Mmm, I suppose it's effective. She always seemed to be more in control of herself until recently. I think there are slightly more than two panels. The middle cloud thing, "Ellen is a cursed duplicate of Elliot created by the Dewitchery Diamond", is intended to be read after you take in Diane's reaction in the panel; I even had to scroll down a bit to see it all. There is a mental pause between the main panel and the text cloud, so it's being used as a second panel, of sorts. Dan might call it a three panel comic today. Noah, your furniture is on fire. Is whatever is happening in the background of the first panel what set the fires? Neither Noah nor Diane seem particularly concerned about this. I would be quite concerned, but I live in a different universe.

NP Comic for Thursday, Jan 12, 2023 Ellen is positive and encouraging. That seems a bit out of character, but not much. She tends to have some rough edges. What is odder is how perceptive she is. I guess solving mysteries has paid off. Also, she does have people skills, so maybe those are shining through. I thought Rich had already worked this out for himself, but looking back at the last few comics, no, he seems to need help getting past this. So Rich is having a teachable moment in how he can impress two lesbians. Probably not what he was aiming for.

NP Comic for Tuesday, Jan 10, 2023 It seems odd how a tiny little jiggle line seems so noticeable.

NP Comic for Thursday, Jan 5, 2023 Four more or less normal characters highlight the notion of beauty influencing charisma, in turn influencing persuasiveness. Rich, meanwhile, reacts to their discussion as he recovers from a lightning strike. He appears to get better. FWIW, I'm not on board with where the discussion is heading. Beauty is not the same thing as charisma. Some RPG, it might have been an edition of D&D, broke out physical beauty from charisma as comeliness. Granted, there are correlations. In the age of video accessibility, a good looking politician will tend to do better than one who is not. But it is hardly the whole story. Charisma has to do with credibility and trustworthiness. Self confidence is a big factor, as is competence and track record. Charisma is clearly tied to persuasiveness, but looks is a factor only, and not even the main one, otherwise Mitch McConnell would not be a leading republican, to pick an example. Ultimately, charisma means that you are willing to invest a level of your attention with the person who has it. In this sense, looks is more of an ice breaker than a deal maker, although it could also be a deciding factor if all other things are equal; a tie breaker. Hotness is not a good synonym for looks in this case, because it leans more toward sexual attractiveness rather than appears competent. It is of limited specific utility in persuading others if they do not thing they have a shot with the speaker, and the limits of the topics of persuasion are more immediate, but not really tied to a sense of leadership necessarily - although, they can be. What is most weird about this is that the framework of the comic is presenting a shallow view of looks as charisma as a major influence in how people interact, but, for the most part, they do not. You might appreciate how a server in a fast food facility looks, but if they can't get your order right, you are not going to give them a pass. The saying, 'Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes to the bone' highlights this; someone might look attractive, but when you get to know them, you quickly learn what they are really like and dislike them. Yet this view is not entirely with out merit. We are very visual, much of our interaction is based on visual cues. People project a demeanor through the expression on their face and how they carry themselves. (Blind people compensate and become more sensitive to other cues.) Your outward appearance has some correlation with the person inside. There is yet another side to this, 'Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder'. Not everyone will see 'looks' the same. All kinds of biases and prejudices play in as well, as can relationship. A person you like will seem to look better than someone you do not. Racism and ethnic bias comes into play. Not all persuasion is based on charisma. Neverwinter Nights, based on D&D 3, had a persuasion skill, but also listed an intimidation skill that accomplished pretty much the same thing. So, to me, the train of thought running through the last set of comics misses the mark; I'm not convinced it's even plausible that a skeptical mayor is influenced by a bard's opinion merely because she looks good. Indeed, if he is, that might be a red flag to be wary of a secondary agenda on his part. Why is he granting unwarranted credence to what she says? Larry and George are speaking in-character. It is unclear that Nanase is. Ellen apparently thinks so, too, because she is not speaking for a character, so she must be addressing Nanase. So Rich's reactions: with Larry, he's having a difficult time separating the character from the person, it's too personal; with George, who he does not know as well, he's calming down, better able to accept it, with Nanase and Ellen, he is calm and confused, they are messing with his world view. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of this direction for this comic sequence, but it made me think and in turn define some things that have seemed inconsistent for a long time.

NP Comic for Saturday, Dec 31, 2022 "I've been working on the railroad, all the live long day ..." To be fair, it is supposed to be a quick game. It needs to stay on the rails.

NP Comic for Thursday, Dec 29, 2022 I like the shading on the D20. In spite of the plan Rich laid out, Larry role played flirting ... with disaster. Or not, since Ellen gave him a pass before he rolled. To Dan's last comment, when the laws of physical reality develop holes, they should be darned, just like socks (not exactly like socks; quantum strings vs thread, and a much larger darning egg). This should keep our universe inside, and those other universes outside. Who knows what a chocolate in the peanut butter situation would lead to?

NP Comic for Tuesday, December 20, 2022 Bogging down in details. Maybe there's a point.

NP Comic for Saturday, Dec 17, 2022 Nanase's smile in panel 2 is genuine, based on the circumstances, though it looks like a forced smile of someone covering up their displeasure, it looks too forced. I don't think we've ever seen her smile this broadly. That actually bodes well, it means she is not dwelling on her mom riding her about stuff, which seem to be the background of her psyche. She has a severe disconnect between her public face and what's going on inside; I think she barely lets Ellen in, to the best of her ability. Girl needs counseling. It will do her some good to get away from home; sadly, she will likely commute. Mom is watching out for her, mom wants her to do well, but they have a toxic relationship; mom is domineering, and fails to recognize, praise, and reward; withholds love and support. In all fairness, parenting is harder than it looks. Sadly, Bird Speech never happened.

NP Comic for Thursday, December 15, 2022 Larry yells "Bard Speech!", Ellen explains that he needs to explain what he wants to say. It would be funnier if he said "Bird Speech!".

NP Comic for Tuesday, December 13, 2022 Ellen is handling her modified script well. Well played, Rich. Do they go after Marik now, or give him another hour to do mischief?

NP Comic for Saturday, Dec 10, 2022, wherein, Ellen names the recently introduced cleric, and skeptical George behaves skeptically. Not much else happens. 'Marik' seems like a reasonable random fantasy name to pull out of your butt when you're on the spot. Not sure why George would be skeptical. Perceiving she's gone off script? The mayor is not happy about their theory. Zorro, the traditional fictional character, is spelled with two 'r's; still, Zoro could be a valid name.

NP Comic for Thursday, December 8, 2022 Ellen is switching horses in mid stream. When the train leaves the rails, build tracks under it. Good deal. The five mile stare: Ellen has just noticed a window in the fourth wall, and is startled that we are observing her game. I would be. I like the use of scrolls for the opposing plot threads. It fits the theme, and you know right away what happened.

NP Comic for Saturday, Dec 3, 2022 Well, that's solved. Time to pack up and go home. ... But, since the cleric was just for fixing the fall down the stairs, he's not involved at all. I guess "za?' means "Oh, my, this is taking an unexpected turn. I am sooo surprised.", because, face it, that never happens when running an RPG.

NP Comic for Thursday, Dec 1, 2022 Seems like the guard had a legitimate reason for being missing. The bard asking questions seems reasonable, not getting why it is a point of minor drama in the last panel. Kind of a, "OK ..." topic. George, who suggests it, stated early on that his character is lazy. But it does have an oddity, which in hindsight is carried over from previous comics; the character's names are not used. It's not, '<the character's name>' ', it's 'the bard'. Similarly, in previous comics, the players refer to each other by their player name. "Nanase fell down the stairs", "I turn to Nanase (and say ...)", "My mission is to find out more about your girlfriend?" (Rich refers to the player, not to the character) ... Because , just before that, Ellen said, "You've been tasked with learning more about Nanase" ; OK, George named his sorceress 'George', Larry's bard is refered to as 'Larry', in the same comic, Nanase's character is referred to as 'Nanase', ah, Ellen addresses this issue, and George officially names his sorceress 'George'; Rich's character has not been addressed; but in the September 24 NP comic, Ellen states that they will be using their real names for their characters. Guessing this was to avoid a layer of potential confusion from the story line, "Which one was <character name>?". It feels odd, but it does read easier. As Ellen says (paraphrase), "By the time you figure this out, we'll be done."

NP Comic for Tuesday, November 29, 2022 Your train has left the rails. Really, Larry should have probably figured out exactly why the cleric suddenly appeared.

NP Comic for Thursday, November 24, 2022 Happy Thanksgiving! ... at least, if you are in the US ... and not indigenous ... 'and this is why we can't have nice things' ... "... but the table you are playing on had blood on it when we got it at an estate sale ..." odds for four ones in a row, 1/160,000 I do like that Rich appears to be actually engaged in the game. Huzzah!

NP Comic for Thursday, November 17, 2022 "We are saving that chicken" (for dinner tomorrow).

NP Comic for Tuesday, November 15, 2022 Rich actually plays the game! Rich actually contributes! Rich talks to a girl like she's a person! Will wonders never cease? <queue ominous music> "The chicken dinner dark meat ritual!" <thunder sound effects> "Mirabel was a special chicken. She was delicious."

NP Comic for Saturday, November 12, 2022 Piano note pitch is based for a good portion on the length of the wires inside (also tension, which is how they're tuned, and some of the low keys are weighted with a wire wrap). Things that are called 'pianos' that are diminutive, like toy pianos, are generally not pianos. Every size reduction by 1/2 should shift the notes up one octave. this sounds like a reduction of two octaves, so you could still hear it and recognize the tune. The mechanical constraints of the tensioners and frame would be questionable, but these could have been compensated, left thick enough to do the job. Alternate materials is a possibility, but steel wire is used for a reason, able to be put into tension and not fail. Almost any other metal will be subject to eventual metal fatigue. Titanium should produce an even higher pitch. So, are Fry and Leila are implicated in the abduction? It is not the new school year, so not October, therefore no Oktoberfest, so no. I'm going to guess that George is not a fan of The Chicken Dance. Why would a chicken need a bed at all? Was Mirabel possibly a person transformed into a chicken? Not used to perching?

NP Comic for Tuesday, November 8, 2022 Nanase is channeling Susan and Diane. Check for the guard that happens to be a rooster. She ran off with him, flew the coop!

Duplicate post, please delete

NP Comic for Thursday, November 3, 2022 George assumes Ellen is Elliot, wacky high jinks don't actually ensue. Also Elliot only appears in George's imagination. He really needs to walk into the store. Actually, George thinks Ellen is transgender; he doesn't know about magic transformations in general (probably assumes Cheerleadra is a special case as a superhero). Elliot appearing in the store, even later, should convince him he's wrong. Maribel, the chicken has quarters. That is weird. Maybe they have corn vending machines? She likes old school video games? Something like Frogger, but with a chicken? (thus providing yet another answer to the perennial question).

NP Comic for Tuesday, November 1, 2022 Chicken? Chicken? Chicken? Pfffft. Chicken! It's alive! Or at least was, recently, the current state of the chicken has yet to be determined. Frankly, if I wanted to hide a chicken, eating it would be a good option. The mayor, what with bribing judges and misusing public resources, is not exactly above board. This could be significant later. He's also not sharpest tool in the shed; 'security second to none' sounds rather extravagant for a 'prize winning chicken'. Also seems to jump to conclusions, albeit for RP railroad reasons; chickens disappear due to mortal men or animals all the time, security not withstanding. His world has rogues, who can get around security. His world also presumably has inside jobs. Also, individual feathers 'go missing' all the time. The chicken yard is littered with a few, always. They didn't grow there, they fell off of chickens. I like how Ellen uses their reaction, basically holds them accountable for casual remarks. Well, here's hoping they can rescue their plucky charge, and don't end up with egg on their faces.

NP Comic for Thursday, October 27, 2022 No one is that out of touch with role playing terms, are they? They are borrowed from other parts of our culture. 'Plot hook' existed long before D&D. Herding kittens isn't even particularly a role playing term, although it often applies. Working theory for my head canon, Nanase is just that sheltered by her mom.

NP Comic for Tuesday, October 18, 2022 "But ... she's female ... there's nothing to learn. I know all about females." I suspect this will end up far more positive than I'm imagining it,