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NP Comic for Thursday, Nov 30, 2023 Overly complicated mumbo and jumbo. Ashley then psychs herself out.

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-031 Does Tedd realize that most academic research papers are not written in the form of video game reviews?

NP Comic for Saturday, Nov 18, 2023 Crazy like a fox. "You know she's a little bit dangerous . . ."

NP Comic for Thursday, Nov 16, 2023 Spell Legos! "L E G O S . . . Happy?"

NP Comic for Tuesday, Nov 14, 2023 You REALLY don't have to explain.

NP Comic for Saturday, Nov 11, 2023 Ashley is beside herself.

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.

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.

https://www.egscomics.com/comic/layers-067 Is Grace a diplomatic genius? Or is the ability to redirect conversations from confrontational to merely awkward a natural talent? . . . . . And the next arc will be named "A Spoiler In And Of Itself". Prediction: Noah is recruited by the Washington Generals.

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.

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/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?"

https://www.egscomics.com/comic/layers-064 Edward has previously commented that his professional conversations are dominated by the need to keep secrets and the need to keep people happy. How odd is it to discover Tedd is happy if Edward doesn't keep secrets? . . . . . So how long has Tedd been an Unpaid Intern for the agency? Of course, if Tedd has been producing useful results for the agency without getting paid why should they start paying Tedd at all?

NP Comic for Saturday, Oct 21, 2023 Fox is having a difficult time. Electrodes in the skull could definitely liven up the hijinks, especially if you use home tools to install them.

Comic for Wednesday, Oct 18, 2023 I'm at odds with 'everything is negotiable' - to the dark side this path leads. Within bounds though, he has a point. This normally wouldn't be one. He must have made a very convincing case.

NP Comic for Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023 Nanase and Fox have done this before. Fox won that time. The middle panel is a bit puzzling. I have not seen peoples glasses glowing when they think. Perhaps I have not observed people actually thinking. We are pretty good at faking it. Or maybe it's a different universe thing. I think I need to make LED glasses that I can light up. It will interfere with using them to see, but it will look impressive in the right situation.

NP Comic for Saturday, Oct 14, 2023 23,590 + 1,011 = 24,601 Pretty much everyone has access to a calculator, because the app is on phones, and even if you have no signal, that should work.

Comic for Friday, Oct 13, 2023 Tedd's eye turn back to normal, and Steve has thoughts about it, but he goes back in his shell because he's too hard to draw.

NP Comic for Thursday, Oct 12, 2023 She's really beside herself!

Comic for Wednesday, Oct 11, 2023 Will they revert? otherwise, these will be a bit difficult to hide. Shade all the time, I guess. Or something like the Uryuoms use.

NP Comic for Tuesday, Oct 3, 2023 We are not getting nekkid!

Comic for Monday, Oct 2, 2023 Edward seems to have some massive self doubts. It's like Tedd is a stranger to him.

Comic for Friday, Sep 29, 2023 (From the commentary): Two nickels does not buy much any more. Back in the day, it was a local phone call or some time in the parking meter. My dad said that long ago, he used to get into movies for a nickel. Maybe we've never seen Elliot's true nature. What if Elliot's default form is from another comic? Would Dan need to get permission to draw it? What if he's Calvin? What if he's Hobbes? What if he's Cathy! Oh, Noes! He could be Peppermint Patty, athletic and clueless . . . Ashley would be Snoopy, I think; lives in her own fantasy world.

NP Comic for Thursday, Sep 28, 2023 Holy Carp!