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https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-065 So Ashley is in Magical Kindergarten? Sorry. Kittengarten. . . . . Several million years from now, paleontologists will examine the fossil records and determine that primates and felines were at one time distinct and unrelated mammalian families. But some how in the late Anthropocene era, a chaotic event caused the two groups to fuse and become the adorably dominant life forms on the planet.

I just noticed that no one has created any NP threads this week. Rather than making several threads I figured I'd just do one for the week. Tuesday, Feb 13: https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-060 Thursday, Feb 15: https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-061 Saturday, Feb 17: https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-062 Space for kinda-sorta spoilers: I like Ashley's form in Tuesday's strip. It's funny both she and Kevin are acting like she was being naughty, when random TFs are par for the course in Tedd's basement. Someone pointed out elsewhere that it's kind of funny Ashely's worried in Thursday's strip that she'll get TF spells instead of the healing spells she wants, when Pandora decided not to give her a mark because all she could give her was healing magic. As for Saturday, all I have to say is: Chibi!

Tedd's just figured out something important. Either a way for him to get magics spells of his own or a way to train magic resistance, I'm not sure which.

https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-057 Cut to training montage. Was Nanase ever this attentive in Mr Raven's AP World History Class?

Nanase is cut to the quick!

Perfect Nanase reaction. Also, quite an unconscious change for her, she's gone from thinking of Tedd as the weird cousin she avoids, to seeing him as the dispenser of magical goodies.

https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-054 The animated inanimate object designed to be a teaching tool is acting like a coach or mentor? Has he finally run out of obnoxiousness and now has nothing but his job left to do? So it is confirmed that once a magic user is awakened, it is within their power to develop new magical abilities. Before, I got the impression that is was a matter of random chance or the Will Of Magic's flair for the dramatic, or intervention from Immortals or powerful wizards. But according to Kevin, it seems any awakened magic user can take the abilities they have and, with a lot of patience, practice and work, develop them into the abilities they want.

https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-052 So we aren't going to see a nine year old Nanase with a thirty six year old brain? Or a fifty four year old Nanase with a six year old brain? That's too bad. I figure if she was one hundred eight years old with a three year old brain, she would be perfect for current politics.

NP Comic for Saturday, Jan 20, 2024 In the commentary, Ashley gets the blame, but they are both thinking about it. Should say "Of course their minds go there." Kevin states an obvious thing they've done before, and probably should have thought of. He offered a good suggestion! WoD at the bottom of the commentary is that Kevin, not Tedd, said that because sticks are easy to draw. This I can believe.

NP Comic for Saturday, Jan 13, 2024 Aw, @#$%&, Oh, goody, another comic featuring Scrappy Kevin, my favorite piece of firewood stick character in the EGS comic. I need a laugh track device that I can play whenever I read his lines, to take the edge off. Someone mentioned characters that were a stand-in for Dan. Kevin. Not the only one, not even the main one, but that's really his only purpose. Gadzooks - I was guessing verb noun, but no, possessive plural noun. Also explains why you never see singular Gadzook. So, since WoD is WoG for the comic, Kevin could have said, "Danzooks" (except, presumably, Dan has never been crucified, at least not physically). Since there is no nail count involved, 'Danzook' should be sufficient. There is the answer to your 2nd panel question, Ashley. Also, Ashley, you forgot to mention to Kevin, the Stick of Instruction, that Tedd's device uses uryuom tech that is outside of his bailiwick, not that it really matters for his exposition. I think the comic is missing out by not making more use of Kevin for comedy relief. I could see this as a sub-genre, 'How can we abuse Kevin this week?' I think making use of Kevin's single outstanding physical feature, he's a stick, while he's 'sleeping' could add so much. Tedd needs to stir cake batter, Kevin is handy. Oops, Kevin has cake batter all over him, run him through the dish washer. Susan gets a puppy. Let's play Fetch! Nanase and Ellen are babysitting Akiko, and they give Kevin a makeover with pain and glitter and glue on googly eyes, so he looks more like Clippy, another beloved character from a different genre. During a camping trip, beavers abduct Kevin and he becomes a part of their dwelling. Such a delightful character.

NP Comic for Thursday, Jan 11, 2024 The point of this was for Nanase to retain her ability to think while Fox could still operate independently. Flexing and glaring does not shout "I can work independently" to me. She's keeping the same flexing stance with the same arms, that actually seems to say the opposite. The form does have the advantage of reaching the top shelf more easily.

Nanase is quite invested in her physical strength. Not surprising, she worked hard for it. She would probably need some serious reason to make that exchange.

NP Comic for Thursday, Dec 7, 2023 Tedd is shocked that Ashley threw Kevin the Insulting Stick at the golem. I'm shocked that Kevin made it back. Tedd seems to see Kevin as a bit of an oracle, so is presumably learning from Kevin. Kevin is designed by Arthur to instruct new agents, as such has a reflection of Arthur's knowledge. To me this says Tedd could do with some magic instruction from someone who could guide him <sarcasm mode> . . . if only there were such a person available </sarcasm mode>.

NP Comic for Tuesday, Nov 28, 2023 . . . also, I think you can do a trade where you fold your own laundry, and reduce your casting costs entirely, but where's the fun in that? Kevin has a speaking role in this comic. Pretty impressive, for a stick.

https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-030 Will you pet Fox? For SCIENCE!?

NP Comic for Tuesday, Oct 31, 2023 Hmm. In either the before the change or after the change magic, Kevin makes no sense. What exactly is he? Physically, he is a stick, painted like a traditional stage wand. This makes a little sense, because as a seer, Arthur is a 'wand maker'. But Tedd has long since demonstrated that wands don't have to actually be stick shaped. He does not duplicate the function of 'normal' wands, he is not enabling the caster to use himself to cast a spell via the magical energy he stores. A normal wand would have to be a recording of the spell it can cast, so that's not unlike Kevin, but Kevin has much more knowledge than a specific spell, and can reason about them. This is not wand-like. He's more like a spell book, albeit an open ended one that is not about specific spells. Like if you took spellbook-like knowledge and made a pod cast about it. But even then, not a scripted podcast, more like segments a responsive program that would show short training segments to address specific queries, and even beyond that, incorporated an AI that assesses need and selects the segments. All without having much of a clue about polity and social interaction. And then, he has odd capabilities, like speaking. Why and how? There are alternatives to speaking, he could be telepathic maybe, or create a text display in the air, or have a readout on the side. But clearly, he is speaking and several people hear him at once. He has no apparent sound interaction hardware. Yet he speaks and hears. If this is trivial to do in the EGS universe, why don't all wands have an instructional feature to tell people what they are for and how to operate them? He can't see the video game being played, but he is aware of people and where they are. He has almost no social sense, but he 'tilts himself politely'. Where did he get that notion? And he hovers. That seems like a powerful feature, the kind of thing you'd want to build into lots of stuff, yet we haven't seen many magic items that hover. We've seen people hover, but will was involved. Kevin essentially has no will of his own, other than his teaching purpose; he 'sleeps' when he's not teaching. So why does he hover? It seems that it would use a lot of magic power to do so. It would shorten his useful life if he is using stored power. Is he dependent on ambient magic energy? Is he vampyric? Can Ashley even power him, if he is? Presumably, he is a wand because Arthur is a wand maker, but he has more in common with a spell book than a wand, and he is ambulatory like a golem. He should have been some other kind of object: Teddy bear Brass frog (I'd say a Barbie style doll, but that's too much like the fairy dolls, would be confusing in the comic) A magician doll with a top hat A cell phone app A vinyl record you have to play, but the audio is responsive like Kevin, and the record keeps spinning and does not end until your session is done. An augmentation on a cat or dog A head set with a microphone Kevin also appears to learn. In terms of AI, this is nontrivial; it seems that Arthur is skilled beyond just magic. Gotta say, still not a fan of the character, Kevin. Not seeing that he brings a lot to the comic.

https://www.egscomics.com/comic/layers-069 Ashley hasn't seen Squirrel Grace yet? Very similar to Sarah's reaction. . . . . . Is Tedd upset because no thought was given to asking Ellen if her "Second Life" memories might have relevant information? Or is Ellen surprised that her "Second Life" memories have relevant information? I think we can safely assume that the Chibi Stares will continue uninterrupted for the next two weeks.

NP Comic for Thursday, Nov 9, 2023 The change in magic with less power but greater flexibility appears to have greater ramifications than they were aware of. They can combine spells. Nanase doesn't quite get to tell us what her new spell was. The limitations of AI shown in a harsh light. Fox is now programmed for a task, and has no sense about when it is appropriate. (Imagine if she had the strength, and did not understand not to fold the human with the clothes. Sky Net, here we come.) Also, Kevin is aware of his obsolescence, but is oddly capable of meta reasoning about it. I wonder if he can modify his curriculum to take changes into account or if it is hard coded. He is apparently able to understand that it has changed.

NP Comic for Thursday, Nov 2, 2023 Having magic gave mousey, short Rhoda confidence (well, magic, and a girlfriend). Magic has so far made Ashley more neurotic. Maybe when she gets some power, that will change.

https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/fox-021 Kevin, why must you be a reliable and interesting source of magical knowledge? I was almost ready to simply ignore you whenever you appeared on panel. . . . . . I probably shouldn't be surprised that there is more than one way to achieve similar magical results. I suppose that the next step is to have Nanase make a "Model Fox" in a manner similar to Kevin's construction, then blend those techniques with her summon spell. And the interplay between Ashley and Kevin makes me think of Kevin as a tutor for a Middle School History class, but he only has the University text book available. Every time he lets a controversial tidbit slip, like ritual summons, the British Raj or Japanese internment, it distracts Ashley from the basic rote facts she's supposed to be learning, like the names of all the American states, the names of all the British monarchs or "is this your card?"

NP Comic for Saturday, Sep 16, 2023 Nanase seems happy to see The Incredible Wonder Stick, another clue that she hasn't been around him all that much.

Comic for Monday, Sep 11, 2023 Kevin is giving Tedd a lesson from Dan's real life, I guess?

Comic for Thursday, Sep 7, 2023 Thus Sprach Kevin (queue music). I see him as more like the monolith than like Zoroaster, though. Except the monolith kept it's mouth shut. So to speak.

Comic for Wednesday, Aug 30, 2023 It is logical that Kevin, being entirely non-biological, and going dormant when he isn't training someone thinks that is the only reason to exist. From the point of view of software design, he is lacking in user friendly interface features. Kevin is too early a version of what he is, at best the beta version. It is not good that Tedd is taking Kevin's criticism to heart. It show too much vulnerability for the position he's been thrust into. Kevin's P.O.V. is unhealthy, and Sarah is correct. He probably needs more context, if he's able to absorb it. I'd start with "Magic is a tool, a means to other goals, not an all consuming purpose in itself. That is not true for you because you were created with the purpose of training others in magic, but Kevin, you are also a tool, a means to an end." Maybe this arc will deal with Tedd's tendency to fixate at the expense of his other needs.

Comic for Monday, Aug 28, 2023 'Enormous'? I would have said 'Obnoxious'. I see him as the Scrappy of the comic. And, like Scrappy, he doesn't serve a purpose. It would have made more sense if Ashley had found an enchanted training spell book or a magic training iPad. He defies any form of logic. How does he see and hear? How does he think? How does he speak? Why, in the context of his single purpose, does he have emotions? What do those emotions reflect? He does not seem to have a personal ethos that matches Arthur. So where do the differences come from? My conclusion is that he is strictly comedy relief. When does he get 'face' time in the comic? When he says something dumb. So, caveat, when they do the movie version of EGS, Kevin will be the villain pulling the strings behind the evil. "Hey, Kevin, can you help us start a fire?" "Certainly. I know several trivial cantrips for creating fire." "Actually, if you'd just stick one of your ends in this pencil sharpener, we just need some tinder." Years later, Kevin is a magic training toothpick. "Practice good oral hygiene, kids. Clean your teeth."