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partner555

Main Monday Jul 16, 2018

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I wanna say I speculated that the Dunkels were in deeper than they let on which is why they were so chill about the hijinks Elliot and co got into, but honestly can't remember if I actually posted it.

What are the chances that Mr Dunkel was in the same class as Edward in school and taught by Adrian?

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It would explain why they're so weirdly laid back about everything.

As for Ellen's hair, I think I like it. I still have trouble picturing it being green, though, and I always forget that it is until someone mentions is. Dan needs to switch back to color at least long enough for me to adjust, lol.

 

Also, his comment in the commentary about EGS's 30th year made me realize we're coming up on 20. 20 YEARS!

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Since it's now in canon that human magical talents are inherited, it would make sense for every one of the Main Eight to have at least one parent with magic or at least magical potential. From there it's a short step to parents with "jobs" such as "greeting card salesman" and "used furniture dealer". Moperville is supposed to be near Chicago, and Chicago has already had at least one very notable "used furniture dealer".

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8 minutes ago, Illjwamh said:

As for Ellen's hair, I think I like it. I

I'm not sure about the pigtails though. Though it's kinda for the same reason Tedd looked strange the first time he had short hair, or Grace with the wavy hair, was just so used to the hairstyle being one way or very close to it for so long.

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...why does she need to make excuses at all?  Everyone knows she's magic now, and everyone knows now how weird magic can be; can't she just say "it's magic"?

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1 hour ago, Illjwamh said:

Also, his comment in the commentary about EGS's 30th year made me realize we're coming up on 20. 20 YEARS!

And I've been following since about 2008. 10 years, more than half of the comic's run. That's about 40% of my life so far, on my god.

37 minutes ago, WR...S said:

...why does she need to make excuses at all?  Everyone knows she's magic now, and everyone knows now how weird magic can be; can't she just say "it's magic"?

Er no. There's still all of her school mates, who have no reason to believe Ellen specifically has magic even if they know beyond any doubt that magic is a thing.

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1 hour ago, WR...S said:

...she's a magic-using celebrity.

She's a celebrity, yes, but at what point did everyone outside of her social circle learn that she was a magic-user?

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Aside from the things in Dan's linked to in the commentary to imply previous strange things, it should also be noted that they don't work for the government, or at least not the same agency as Edward, as he doesn't recognize them and is equally stranged out by their surprising acceptance of the situation.

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*"Secret Agent Man" plays in the background*

Not what they seem. Him reading the paper all the time answers nothing yet questions everything.

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4 hours ago, partner555 said:

And I've been following since about 2008. 10 years, more than half of the comic's run. That's about 40% of my life so far, on my god.

 

Geez, that's even freakier to think about. Given that I started reading 16 years ago this month, I'm closing in on 50%. @_@

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5 hours ago, WR...S said:

...why does she need to make excuses at all?  Everyone knows she's magic now, and everyone knows now how weird magic can be; can't she just say "it's magic"?

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I mean, not necessarily. Thoth could be considered an "accountant", along with any being or individual whose job it is to keep an account of all that transpires throughout the cosmos. Heka could be called a librarian. And Hermes could be called a "travel agent", along with any being or individual whose job it is to facilitate travel around and across both sides of the world, up and down Ygdrassil.

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You know, it just occurred to me that Nanase seems to think it was odd that the Dunkel parents called in Greg. I mean it'd wouldn't be much of a stretch to say they know about him because Elliot took Martial Arts classes from him, but we haven't seen any interaction between them. Do we even know if they only recently came to trust Greg with matters  like this due to his recent involvement with the Goo and the fire golems, or have they known him for a while and there was a reason they enrolled Elliot in his training classes?

Maybe they knew of Elliot's tendency to protect people from bullies and thought "you know, Greg is starting up a Martial Arts course, that would be perfect for Elliot."

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The mystery of the Dunkels deepens, though based on the commentary it's not going to be answered anytime soon, if ever.

7 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

Since it's now in canon that human magical talents are inherited, it would make sense for every one of the Main Eight to have at least one parent with magic or at least magical potential. From there it's a short step to parents with "jobs" such as "greeting card salesman" and "used furniture dealer". Moperville is supposed to be near Chicago, and Chicago has already had at least one very notable "used furniture dealer".

There's no need for every one of the Main Eight to have a parent with active magic or obvious potential. Simply being human means they can gain, learn, and improve magic. With the exception of special talents like wizardry and other special talents like what Susan, Diane, and Sarah have, the only difference between different humans his how much work and training they have to put in to get to a given level of power and ability. Which is similar to other fields that raw talents can play a role in.

4 hours ago, Wixelt said:

Aside from the things in Dan's linked to in the commentary to imply previous strange things, it should also be noted that they don't work for the government, or at least not the same agency as Edward, as he doesn't recognize them and is equally stranged out by their surprising acceptance of the situation.

I also remember the Dunkels mentioning something along the line of them not being sure what Edward's job entail (though I can't seem to find the page, so my memory might be lying to me) which further supports that Mr. Dunkel doesn't work in the same agency at least. I was thinking he likely worked for the private sector as there's some implication that the Paranormal Division of the FBI handles or is heavily connected to all paranormal governmental activities in the USA(And Edward is a rather big name in the DGB), but then I remembered that any magical talent that Mr. Dunkel may or may not have doesn't have to be related to his job or his acceptance of strange things. He could simply be an auditor for the IRS or an accountant for FEMA or something else relatively mundane and any magical abilities would be potentially helpful, but largely irrelevant.

28 minutes ago, Scotty said:

You know, it just occurred to me that Nanase seems to think it was odd that the Dunkel parents called in Greg. I mean it'd wouldn't be much of a stretch to say they know about him because Elliot took Martial Arts classes from him, but we haven't seen any interaction between them. Do we even know if they only recently came to trust Greg with matters  like this due to his recent involvement with the Goo and the fire golems, or have they known him for a while and there was a reason they enrolled Elliot in his training classes?

Maybe they knew of Elliot's tendency to protect people from bullies and thought "you know, Greg is starting up a Martial Arts course, that would be perfect for Elliot."

Mr. and Mrs. Dunkel might trust Greg simply because Elliot and Ellen trust Greg. I'm rather certain they would have had discussions about his martial arts classes, if nothing else, for the small talk purpose of asking Elliot how his day went, and would have learned that Greg is a dependable, if sometimes goofy, guy.

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2 minutes ago, Drasvin said:

There's no need for every one of the Main Eight to have a parent with active magic or obvious potential. Simply being human means they can gain, learn, and improve magic. With the exception of special talents like wizardry and other special talents like what Susan, Diane, and Sarah have, the only difference between different humans his how much work and training they have to put in to get to a given level of power and ability. Which is similar to other fields that raw talents can play a role in.

Yeah, by Arhur's description of Ashley, it's likely she has no immortal ancestry at all and it was a complete fluke of being exposed to the "dragon" scale that gave her the ability to be a wizard. Immortals could very well be able to mark anyone regardless of magic potential or ancestry as well.

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Elliot was already taking classes with Greg, and a pretty decent martial artist, when he met Justin. Which was when they were in junior high.

Which means he started taking those classes in grade school.

At that age, there is significant interaction between the parents and the sensei. (Parallel: we had more interaction with our daughter's dance instructors when she was ten and taking classes one hour a week, than when she was sixteen and taking three.) So the trust and respect could have built up significantly after the classes began - no need for previous acquaintance.

Why else would they pick that dojo? Lots of possible reasons. Cheap. Convenient. First in the phone book's alphabetic listing (that would fit well with their apparent laid-back style). Elliot and/or at least one parent were into anime at the time. It sounded cooler. It didn't sound like a bunch of random Japanese syllables.

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1 hour ago, Don Edwards said:

Elliot was already taking classes with Greg, and a pretty decent martial artist, when he met Justin. Which was when they were in junior high.

Which means he started taking those classes in grade school.

At that age, there is significant interaction between the parents and the sensei. (Parallel: we had more interaction with our daughter's dance instructors when she was ten and taking classes one hour a week, than when she was sixteen and taking three.) So the trust and respect could have built up significantly after the classes began - no need for previous acquaintance.

Why else would they pick that dojo? Lots of possible reasons. Cheap. Convenient. First in the phone book's alphabetic listing (that would fit well with their apparent laid-back style). Elliot and/or at least one parent were into anime at the time. It sounded cooler. It didn't sound like a bunch of random Japanese syllables.

I was under the Impression that Greg opened the dojo within the last 3-4 years and that Nanase and Elliot were among the first students to join. The whole "Everyone is new at this, I'm new at this" seems like a clue to how long Greg's been teaching. OF course Greg didn't just out of the blue become a martial artist, he had learned 3 different styles before stumbling into Magic.

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12 hours ago, Tom Sewell said:

So Tedd's mom is a "travel agent" and Elliot's dad is an "accountant". 

He may actually be accountant. DGB needs accountants.

12 hours ago, Scotty said:

I wanna say I speculated that the Dunkels were in deeper than they let on which is why they were so chill about the hijinks Elliot and co got into, but honestly can't remember if I actually posted it.

I think there was some talk about this and I was noting that they MIGHT be so chill simply because they know Tedd for long time. But yes, Dan keeps dropping more and more hints ...

12 hours ago, Scotty said:

What are the chances that Mr Dunkel was in the same class as Edward in school and taught by Adrian?

What reason would Mr. Dunkel have for hiding having magic from his children now?

... but besides that question, his "make charts" ability seem like spell.

12 hours ago, Illjwamh said:

Also, his comment in the commentary about EGS's 30th year made me realize we're coming up on 20. 20 YEARS!

When I read it, I was like "I need to note it. He's joking now but it's not THAT far away compared to how long the comics already goes."

11 hours ago, Scotty said:
12 hours ago, Illjwamh said:

As for Ellen's hair, I think I like it. I

I'm not sure about the pigtails though. Though it's kinda for the same reason Tedd looked strange the first time he had short hair, or Grace with the wavy hair, was just so used to the hairstyle being one way or very close to it for so long.

Don't we already have someone with pigtails like this? In any case, I think she looks younger with them and I'm not sure if it's the right look for someone having as much sex as she has.

11 hours ago, WR...S said:

 

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I thought - and it seems like a number of posters think - that this was building up to a massive twist, that all along there was some sort of something right under our noses... but the commentary seems to suggest it's just another entry in the "boy, those Dunkels are normaweird" running gag, and if it is ever expanded upon, it won't be plot-relevant.

The commentary hints that Dan himself is not sure what precisely should this reveal be. I'm not sure I believe him this.

8 hours ago, Wixelt said:

Aside from the things in Dan's linked to in the commentary to imply previous strange things, it should also be noted that they don't work for the government, or at least not the same agency as Edward, as he doesn't recognize them and is equally stranged out by their surprising acceptance of the situation.

Yes. Very important note. Although ... it only means they don't work for SAME government. On the other hand, with Elliot being Tedd's friend, it's hard to believe Edward doesn't KNOW where Mr. Dunkel works - so it must be something which doesn't make obvious why they are reacting so calmly.

... or Dan overcomplicated it and when he does the reveal it would require some retcons.

3 hours ago, Drasvin said:

I also remember the Dunkels mentioning something along the line of them not being sure what Edward's job entail (though I can't seem to find the page, so my memory might be lying to me)

That was Mrs. Kitsune and she lied.

3 hours ago, Scotty said:

Yeah, by Arhur's description of Ashley, it's likely she has no immortal ancestry at all and it was a complete fluke of being exposed to the "dragon" scale that gave her the ability to be a wizard. Immortals could very well be able to mark anyone regardless of magic potential or ancestry as well.

No immortal ancestry at all would be statistically very unlikely. More like it was far back enough she didn't inherited anything due to bad luck in gene lottery.

39 minutes ago, Scotty said:

I was under the Impression that Greg opened the dojo within the last 3-4 years and that Nanase and Elliot were among the first students to join. The whole "Everyone is new at this, I'm new at this" seems like a clue to how long Greg's been teaching. OF course Greg didn't just out of the blue become a martial artist, he had learned 3 different styles before stumbling into Magic.

Note that it IS possible that Elliot was having some martial arts classes - perhaps even with Greg - before Greg started ASMA. However, I don't think it's NECESSARY. I would assume when Elliot was taking Justin to martial arts, it was already ASMA. He already knew the illusions apparently.

2 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

Cheap. Convenient. First in the phone book's alphabetic listing

Close. For Dunkels specially, it could be useful if Elliot would be able to get there without needing car - either from home or from school.

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10 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

What reason would Mr. Dunkel have for hiding having magic from his children now?

Maybe similar reasons that Mama Kitsune hasn't been open about how much she knows.

I mean, Noriko is a special case there, but the whole "your family does this stuff for a living" might be something you wouldn't want to throw out there if you don't want your kids to feel pressured into following in your footsteps, if they naturally gravitate towards that, then maybe they could be all "hey, that's great! Now I can teach you everything I know"

It's probably a timing thing though, in the case of Mama Kistune, it's probably closer to becoming time to have that talk, but she probably doesn't want to feel like she's just dumping everything into Nanase's lap, she might be figuring it'd be easier if Nanase started asking about stuff first.

9 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

I would assume when Elliot was taking Justin to martial arts, it was already ASMA. He already knew the illusions apparently.

Oh yeah, Elliot rescuing Justin was in Freshman year, Nanase being awakened was during the summer after Freshman year, so Elliot, Nanase and Justin were in ASMA training before Nanase and Susan's trip to France. I was just saying that Greg could have started the whole ASMA dojo the year prior to that.

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15 minutes ago, Scotty said:
23 minutes ago, hkmaly said:

What reason would Mr. Dunkel have for hiding having magic from his children now?

Maybe similar reasons that Mama Kitsune hasn't been open about how much she knows.

I mean, Noriko is a special case there, but the whole "your family does this stuff for a living" might be something you wouldn't want to throw out there if you don't want your kids to feel pressured into following in your footsteps, if they naturally gravitate towards that, then maybe they could be all "hey, that's great! Now I can teach you everything I know"

It's probably a timing thing though, in the case of Mama Kistune, it's probably closer to becoming time to have that talk, but she probably doesn't want to feel like she's just dumping everything into Nanase's lap, she might be figuring it'd be easier if Nanase started asking about stuff first.

Mama Kitsune is controlling type. If she would admit she knows magic, it would be obvious she knows much more than that. Also, Nanase KNOWS Adrian was teaching her. I actually think her only option now is wait for Nanase to figure it herself and then claim she was totally waiting for that and "what took you so long". Actually, based on what we know about her, it totally could be what she plans to do.

Dunkels might actually go slowly, start with admitting they know magic and not dumping out everything at once.

IF they know magic. It's still possible they know ABOUT magic - I mean, that they knew about magic even before Elliot got it - but don't actually have any spells themselves. There might be alternative explanation for the "make charts" ability similar to hammers.

4 hours ago, Drasvin said:

He could simply be an auditor for the IRS or an accountant for FEMA or something else relatively mundane

He could be secret agent of the mundane non-magical kind who just happened to discover something magic unexpectedly. Still weird it would be so secret Edward didn't discovered that, but maybe if he knew he's already gone through background checks for other agency he was not checking so deeply.

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33 minutes ago, Scotty said:

Maybe similar reasons that Mama Kitsune hasn't been open about how much she knows.

Speaking of Mama Kitsune, I had a thought I'd never had before. Mama Kitsune has always seemed older to me than Noriko, but there's no reason she couldn't be younger or even Noriko's twin. If Mama Kitsune is actually Noriko's kid sister, it could give her additional motivation for friction with Noriko.

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25 minutes ago, Tom Sewell said:

Speaking of Mama Kitsune, I had a thought I'd never had before. Mama Kitsune has always seemed older to me than Noriko, but there's no reason she couldn't be younger or even Noriko's twin. If Mama Kitsune is actually Noriko's kid sister, it could give her additional motivation for friction with Noriko.

Speaking as an older brother, friction over the actions of a younger sibling is quite possible as well.

Twins though, I'm unsure, I guess there could be friction if one twin resented being compared to the other, there didn't seem to be any evidence of it between Elliot and Ellen, unless you count the day Ellen was "born" and she tried being the evil twin, but she did fail at that so....

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12 hours ago, WR...S said:

Commentary reaction:

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I thought - and it seems like a number of posters think - that this was building up to a massive twist, that all along there was some sort of something right under our noses... but the commentary seems to suggest it's just another entry in the "boy, those Dunkels are normaweird" running gag, and if it is ever expanded upon, it won't be plot-relevant.

 

It seems to me that what Dan's saying is that he doesn't currently have any stories where revealing the deal with the Dunkels would be important to the plot, and he's waiting until he either comes up with such a story or is getting close to ending the comic before he does so.

What I find interesting is he implies there's more to this than just a running gag, and he already knows why the Dunkels are the way they are even if he doesn't know what to do with that information.

11 hours ago, partner555 said:

And I've been following since about 2008. 10 years, more than half of the comic's run. That's about 40% of my life so far, on my god.

Hmm... I've been reading since 2006, so 12 years... which would be about 32% of my life. ...How much of my life I've been following EGS doesn't really surprise me all that much, but it is strange to think that 3/4ths of the comic's run has occurred since I started reading.

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