Things You Only Noticed On Reread

[Tom Sewell 268]

I noticed that four of the witnesses at the mall in Squirrel Prophet are shown with the lenses on their smartphones showing. So, even though Carol Brown showed up too late to get video of Cheerleadra (again), camera phone videos from the mall are liable to be on TV by the time Grace wakes up on Sunday morning.

[Tom Sewell 268]

First Panel

Boy: So you're into comics! Marvel or DC?

Sarah:  I, uh, mostly like web comics.

Boy: So Marvel!

Web->Spiderman->Marvel.

[Tom Sewell 268]

Panel 4

Magus (thinking): How is it those immortals [Helena and Demetrius] don't even remember that I exist and yet they still manage to get in my way?!

Why I think it's important: Helena and Demetrius were opposing Magus before they reset. That could have happened any time between the time between Susan and Nanase's encounter with them and their first appearance  on March 5th of the First Year, four days before Grace's 18th birthday. This could mean they are not necessarily "French." They could have been watching Elliot in Moperville and been there when Magus arrived. And maybe they were watching Nanase too, perhaps to make sure they got together to produce their contribution to the next generation of thermonuclear-grade monster stompers.

[Matoyak 51]

4 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Panel 4

Magus (thinking): How is it those immortals [Helena and Demetrius] don't even remember that I exist and yet they still manage to get in my way?!

Why I think it's important: Helena and Demetrius were opposing Magus before they reset. That could have happened any time between the time between Susan and Nanase's encounter with them and their first appearance  on March 5th of the First Year, four days before Grace's 18th birthday. This could mean they are not necessarily "French." They could have been watching Elliot in Moperville and been there when Magus arrived. And maybe they were watching Nanase too, perhaps to make sure they got together to produce their contribution to the next generation of thermonuclear-grade monster stompers.

I think you missed a link there? (Also, yeah, there's a fair number of theories based around this point. I think @Scotty could probably explain all the theories about it a bit better? Maybe @ijuin too? I can't remember who all is up on the current theorycrafting on the matter).

[CritterKeeper 1,102]

7 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

This could mean they are not necessarily "French."

I think the main reason people assume they are French is that their bubbles were "translated from French" in their first appearance.

Hmm, it occurs to me to wonder whether they spoke English or French when they Awoke Nanase and gave Susan her Mark.  I'd always read it as English, but they were in France at the time, and French seems to be their default language.

Anyone fluent enough to come up with a good mistranslation that could be used as a plot point?  You know, something that Susan misunderstood, or some place Les Immortals might have used the wrong word....

[Scotty 1,061]

1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

Hmm, it occurs to me to wonder whether they spoke English or French when they Awoke Nanase and gave Susan her Mark.  I'd always read it as English, but they were in France at the time, and French seems to be their default language.

Probably not, it's likely that they were reset in France just shortly after giving Nanase and Susan magic and guiding them to the vampire. The fragmented memories they had because of it probably had them confused enough that they figured that because they were in France at the time, that they must be french. It probably took them a bit to figure out they needed to get back to the US and find Elliot.

[Tom Sewell 268]

H&D not being "French" ties into my wild-ass theory that their Master Plan involved making sure that Nanase and Elliot breed. Okay, it's just a wild-ass theory (WAT). But there's got to be some reason they're watching Elliot. Elliot didn't go to France, did he? Elliot doesn't even want to visit France, ever. How would H&D even know Elliot existed if they had never been to Moperville?

Okay, here's a maybe-not-quite-so-wild-ass-theory (MNQSWAT): Helena and Demetrius were looking out for Nanase in Moperville. Nanase was already doing martial arts with Elliot. So H&D knew that Elliot was important to Nanase. They get reset in France, and the importance of Elliot is one of their few halfway-clear fragments of memory from their previous lives. Oh, and Moperville, because they've spent most of their time just prior to their reset, when they were in France for only a few days or weeks.

OR maybe they were looking out for Susan. Immortals should be able to spot potential vampire hunters, and we know that H&D are very big on vampire control, even bigger than on watching Elliot. Susan's already forming feelings for Elliot (but of course suppressing them). Again, Elliot just happens to be one of the things they remember from their botched reset.

[Scotty 1,061]

3 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Or maybe they were looking out for Susan. Immortals should be able to spot potential vampire hunters, and we know that H&D are very big on vampire control, even bigger than on watching Elliot. Susan's already forming feelings for Elliot (but of course suppressing them). Again, Elliot just happens to be one of the things they remember from their botched reset.

The issue with the whole Susan/Elliot prospect is that they didn't really know each other at the time of the France trip, sure they would have known OF each other because of being mutual friends of Sarah, but they never hung out together because Sarah would eat lunch with Susan and Elliot would be on the other side of the cafeteria with Tedd and up until nearly a year ago (comic time) Tedd and Susan despised each other.

[Tom Sewell 268]

“No, but of course I know of Tedd. His...father's a VIP in the world of the paranormal.”

Late last night I finally noticed that ellipsis between “His” and “father”. Why does Jerry hesitate? How about this theory: Edward isn't Tedd's biological father.

Do we know anyone else who's a VIP in the world of the paranormal? Somene who Jerry talks about two panels later? Someone who, if he fathered a child, would take steps to keep his paternity a secret for the safety of the child and his mother and her husband?

Yes, Adrian Raven. However, in that flashback at the end of Hair, Noriko said:

“It just doesn't make any sense. Between my bloodline and Edward's...”

Another perfectly good theory shot down.

But it seems like Jerry was going to say something else instead of just “father”. I'd like to see any suggestion of what it might have been.

[Xenophon Hendrix 47]

I think the consensus is "mother."

[Matoyak 51]

2 hours ago, Xenophon Hendrix said:

I think the consensus is "mother."

~nods~

Also could have been going to say "family", but mother makes more sense.

[HarJIT 97]

1 hour ago, Matoyak said:

~nods~

Also could have been going to say "family", but mother makes more sense.

Or "parents".

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

Yes, those who know of Noriko know that she is estranged from Edward and Tedd.  So Jerry probably believed that it was not his place to reveal secrets about Tedd's mother to Tedd's friends.  Probably a good idea since Tedd was likely not aware of all the details himself.

[rhjason 1]

I had to look back to see that Elliot apparently got a new spell after finally declaring the superhero(ine) spell to be awesome.

Anyone want to hazard a guess as to its use? Technically I think kitty transformation seem to make the most sense, considering how Edward specifically said that is the  power Elliot would have the highest relationship to after girly transformation.

Also, anyone notice that since Sirleck (Arthur?) knows about what magic wants to keep secret, it would technically imply that he(it?) has lived longer than Pandora. Since Pandora only recall it as a memory when Sirleck (Arthur?) seem to know it directly.

Can someone explain whether Sirleck is in control of Arthur all the time or just partially? I really am starting to get confused on this aspect here.

[Scotty 1,061]

50 minutes ago, rhjason said:

Also, anyone notice that since Sirleck (Arthur?) knows about what magic wants to keep secret, it would technically imply that he(it?) has lived longer than Pandora. Since Pandora only recall it as a memory when Sirleck (Arthur?) seem to know it directly.

Can someone explain whether Sirleck is in control of Arthur all the time or just partially? I really am starting to get confused on this aspect here.

Sirleck's host and Arthur are 2 separate people.

[Don Edwards 548]

Sirleck has never been in direct control of Arthur. (What goes on via bribes or threats, I can't say, but for an aberration, attempting to bribe or threaten a wizard that's part of a government agency of wizards seems like a bad idea to be pursued only if desperate - and then getting away and disappearing again ASAP would be a priority in my opinion. Fortunes can be rebuilt.)

Sirleck at this time is almost certainly in control of the host at all times - it's implied that without him, said host would die any moment.

When the host was healthier... temporarily releasing control would be risky. The host might not be happy being an identity-suppressed minion. And if the host could find a way to block Sirleck's re-entry, or destroy Sirleck, the host would probably be sitting pretty thereafter. I don't see Sirleck as one to take unnecessary risks of that sort. We also don't know if Sirleck can still survive without a host for more than a minute or two. Still, there's nothing clearly definitive.

[Xenophon Hendrix 47]

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.

[Scotty 1,061]

5 hours ago, Xenophon Hendrix said:

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.

Well, working in a comic shop for over 6 months would certainly help as well.

[mlooney 3,417]

16 hours ago, Xenophon Hendrix said:

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.

 

11 hours ago, Scotty said:

Well, working in a comic shop for over 6 months would certainly help as well.

Aside from mopping, Grace has shown herself to be a very fast learner.

[Xenophon Hendrix 47]

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

[ijuin 572]

Yes, Grace's character has moved on beyond its early characterization of "cripplingly naive/sheltered". Having her go to school and work and generally socializing outside of her circle of friends has done a great deal toward helping her catch up on nearly eighteen years of social isolation.

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

11 hours ago, Xenophon Hendrix said:

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

Why can't it be both?

[Xenophon Hendrix 47]

I didn't perceive it as a discontinuity.

[ijuin 572]

The huge jump in Grace's genre savvyness happened over the nearly-six-month time skip, so we can assume that she was gradually learning throughout it, which makes it much less jarring.

[exterminator 37]

Here. Magus talking about his plan with Sirleck. The first times I read the three last panels as Sirleck finally being tempted with the promise of a powerful wizard being in debt with him. Now I realise Magus is anonymous, no one in that universe would miss him, and is a powerful wizard, making him the perfect next host for Sirleck, and making him interested in getting Magus a new body. It's so damn obvious now that I think about it that I feel stupid for not realising sooner.