Story Monday March 21, 2016

[SeriousJupiter 49]

35 minutes ago, ijuin said:

And by the standards of most societies before college became an expected thing for middle-class people (as recent as WWII!!!), 18 is full adulthood. Remember, even today an 18 year old is considered old enough to serve in a nation's military and go out and fight to the death at their government's behest.

Susan still needs training first. Greg is my best bet.

[Don Edwards 548]

4 hours ago, Scotty said:

Well of course, the best way to handle this would be to tell Edward and have him get people better equipped out there, but this is the Main Eight we're talking about, there's a better chance they'll get involved.

Primary Protagonist Syndrome: the story is interested in you. It's an aggravated form of the more common Protagonist Syndrome, where it never occurs to you to call the relevant authorities and then go hide while they deal with the problem (and you may even actively go hunting for the story).

Both forms are also known as Player-Character Syndrome and Main Character Syndrome. However these terms also have other, only vaguely related, meanings.

[Dabat 60]

4 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

Isn't that the same thinking Jerry got mad at Les Immortals about?  There are grown-up already around who could be called in!  Susan is only 18 and still in high school, too young to drink, too young to rent a car, and mostly untrained; she definitely shouldn't be the first choice to go after the monsters!

I posted something similar to this in the last incarnation of the forums. The Immortals pointing Susan and Nanase at the Vampire in Paris, assuming they are the Immortals Mr. Verres contacted after he ran into Pandora in the woods, makes a certain amount of ruthless sense. Either Susan and Nanase gain abilities are are more likely to Awaken and the people around Moperville are that much better able to defend themselves from whatever is coming, or the two girls die and the world is not worse off then it was before.

 

Like I said, ruthless, but with a certain kind of logic behind it.

[NaYa 0]

I really, REALLY hope they introduce Andrea to Tedd. They could talk about SO many things and solve the problem of magic drain clogging!

Also, it would be really interesting to know what the griffins see when they look at Tedd and Grace.

[Scotty 1,061]

4 hours ago, SeriousJupiter said:

The only other plot thread I can think of is Greg training Grace and Ellen. It's possible that when Ellen finally realizes that Susan needs to be told about Diane, she will ask Greg to train the sisters in combat. I don't think Greg has ever personally fought vampires and I'm not sure how he even teaches people magic in the first place, but he's clearly doing something right and I don't think the DGB would be interested in training two teenagers before they're even out of high school.

Even if Greg isn't able to train Susan and Diane how to fight vampires, they could still go with Ellen and Grace and at least learn better defensive techniques or freely practice their magic (once Diane awakens, or gets marked which ever comes first). Nanase and Elliot could join them because Elliot needs to learn how to fight better while in Cheerleadra form, Justin could learn how to utilize his magic better now that he's awakened.

Gee... if this all happened half a year ago, Greg  wouldn't have needed to shut down the ASMA dojo.

[Ser Pentrose 14]

5 hours ago, ijuin said:

And by the standards of most societies before college became an expected thing for middle-class people (as recent as WWII!!!), 18 is full adulthood. Remember, even today an 18 year old is considered old enough to serve in a nation's military and go out and fight to the death at their government's behest.

It's the lack of training that's the real issue here, and if there are a lot of vampires being drawn to moperville getting all potential slayers at least enough training to defend themselves ought to be a priority.

Additionally in many places throughout the world 18 is old enough to legally drink.

[Scotty 1,061]

Something else to note with this page, Andrea states that "for a long time, the flow of magic was simply slower", the whale told Tedd that "There is far more energy in this part of the world than there should be, there has been for much of your life".  That's definitely connected, and I still think it's related to the last time Adrian saw Pandora 14 (going on 15 now) years ago.  Back then, Pandora did something that restricted the flow of magic, letting some through but still allowed for elevated magic levels in Mopeville, the motives of which are still unknown, but after her promise to Adrian to "destroy the world" she's gone and completely blocked the flow.

[HarJIT 97]

1 hour ago, Lady Pentrose said:

It's the lack of training that's the real issue here, and if there are a lot of vampires being drawn to moperville getting all potential slayers at least enough training to defend themselves ought to be a priority.

Additionally in many places throughout the world 18 is old enough to legally drink.

Relevant.

[SeriousJupiter 49]

Oh yeah, I somehow forgot Raven. Still, seeing as he doesn't know about most of the Main Eight and that they all know about him, I don't see him volunteering to train anyone any time soon unless the Main Eight make the first move. Also, yes, I know he seemed to have some plans for Grace, but he hasn't done anything about that in over six months. He's either not in a hurry (possibly waiting for Grace to graduate first) or then he changed his mind and decided to leave Grace out of his life for Tedd's sake.

[showler 14]

If Elliot and Nanase have been told about the space whales then they are likely to bring them up soon.  And Andrea might want more information. So Elliot might end up calling Tedd.

If he does, I hope Tedd tells Elliot that now that they aren't moving he can change back in order to retrieve his phone and put it in speaker mode.

[Scotty 1,061]

18 minutes ago, SeriousJupiter said:

Oh yeah, I somehow forgot Raven. Still, seeing as he doesn't know about most of the Main Eight and that they all know about him, I don't see him volunteering to train anyone any time soon unless the Main Eight make the first move. Also, yes, I know he seemed to have some plans for Grace, but he hasn't done anything about that in over six months. He's either not in a hurry (possibly waiting for Grace to graduate first) or then he changed his mind and decided to leave Grace out of his life for Tedd's sake.

Well, it really depends on if Grace and/or Ellen have Adrian for any classes this year, I say and/or because it's possible that the provision for Grace and Ellen to have the same schedule only applied to the previous year so that Ellen could help Grace adjust to being in school, there's a good chance Grace doesn't need that anymore. Anyway Adrian interest in Ellen and Grace likely hasn't faded especially after learning about the nature of both of them, and yeah Grace being Tedd's girlfriend has influenced Adrian's involvement but I doubt he'd turn any of them away if they came to him with any questions about whats going on.

 

18 minutes ago, showler said:

If Elliot and Nanase have been told about the space whales then they are likely to bring them up soon.  And Andrea might want more information. So Elliot might end up calling Tedd.

If he does, I hope Tedd tells Elliot that now that they aren't moving he can change back in order to retrieve his phone and put it in speaker mode.

Elliot does know about the whales and they're warning to Tedd, so maybe he'll mention it, but it doesn't really do much since what Andrea said is essentially the same info that the whales gave Tedd, heck what Andrea knows is more than what the whales told Tedd since the whales never mentioned another half of the world and the fact that Moperville was supposed to be a point where magic flowed to the other half. It just confirms that the main eight had a few pieces of the puzzle to which Andrea just added a few more.

[hkmaly 490]

11 hours ago, Scotty said:

11 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

Isn't that the same thinking Jerry got mad at Les Immortals about?  There are grown-up already around who could be called in!  Susan is only 18 and still in high school, too young to drink, too young to rent a car, and mostly untrained; she definitely shouldn't be the first choice to go after the monsters!

Well of course, the best way to handle this would be to tell Edward and have him get people better equipped out there, but this is the Main Eight we're talking about, there's a better chance they'll get involved.

Personally I would consider Susan much better ready for fighting now. Also, already adult by several TODAYs definition, including already allowed to drink in more than half of world (not that it would be related).

9 hours ago, ijuin said:

And by the standards of most societies before college became an expected thing for middle-class people (as recent as WWII!!!), 18 is full adulthood. Remember, even today an 18 year old is considered old enough to serve in a nation's military and go out and fight to the death at their government's behest.

... also this. Old enough to serve in military is EXACTLY the age limit we are looking for.

10 hours ago, skington said:

11 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

Still, seven Vampires in one (relatively) small municipal area?  And the human populace is almost entirely unaware?

They could have arrived very recently / not have needed to feed for whichever reason, and Andrea nabbed them as soon as they arrived.

They definitely wasn't in area at the same time. I agree that Andrea likely killed them relatively shortly after arrival. Also, remember that some of them might came BEFORE Edward lost his chair.

9 hours ago, SeriousJupiter said:

Based on what she said in this comic, whenever she sees a vampire, she kills it first and asks questions later.

To be more specific, it seems that she will only start asking questions NOW.

9 hours ago, SeriousJupiter said:

It's possible that when Ellen finally realizes that Susan needs to be told about Diane, she will ask Greg to train the sisters in combat. I don't think Greg has ever personally fought vampires and I'm not sure how he even teaches people magic in the first place, but he's clearly doing something right and I don't think the DGB would be interested in training two teenagers before they're even out of high school.

It's possible that after Edward hears about the number of vampires, HE will ask Greg to train them in combat. It is questionable if DGB have anyone as good for training as Greg is, and enlisting them in DGB would put them under Arthur Arthur's orders ...

1 hour ago, Scotty said:

1 hour ago, SeriousJupiter said:

Oh yeah, I somehow forgot Raven. Still, seeing as he doesn't know about most of the Main Eight and that they all know about him, I don't see him volunteering to train anyone any time soon unless the Main Eight make the first move. Also, yes, I know he seemed to have some plans for Grace, but he hasn't done anything about that in over six months. He's either not in a hurry (possibly waiting for Grace to graduate first) or then he changed his mind and decided to leave Grace out of his life for Tedd's sake.

Well, it really depends on if Grace and/or Ellen have Adrian for any classes this year, I say and/or because it's possible that the provision for Grace and Ellen to have the same schedule only applied to the previous year so that Ellen could help Grace adjust to being in school, there's a good chance Grace doesn't need that anymore. Anyway Adrian interest in Ellen and Grace likely hasn't faded especially after learning about the nature of both of them, and yeah Grace being Tedd's girlfriend has influenced Adrian's involvement but I doubt he'd turn any of them away if they came to him with any questions about whats going on.

Actually, I would say that YES, he did decided that he shouldn't do to Grace what he did to Noriko. This might include not planing to train her, although he may change mind if asked OR if he notices what's happening and that he needs as many people as he can get.

Note that I don't think it's Greg OR Raven: Raven can teach magic, but he is likely limited in physical training. Most of main eight would benefit from BOTH training them.

[Matoyak 51]

2 hours ago, SeriousJupiter said:

Oh yeah, I somehow forgot Raven. Still, seeing as he doesn't know about most of the Main Eight and that they all know about him, I don't see him volunteering to train anyone any time soon unless the Main Eight make the first move.

That'd be a fun way for the Main 8 to not be under DGB's authority while additionally dealing with a lot of the Tedd / Noriko / Raven / Edward drama. It'd also get Raven into the story, which would bring Pandora along again...and it would allow for the Main 8 to get some training they desperately need.

I rather like that idea.

[comicalArchitect 1]

I have been wondering what the Main 8 are going to do with their lives after graduating. Perhaps some of them will go into the DGB and fight monsters full-time. Nanase and the Dunkels seem the most likely to do something like that. Susan and Grace both seem like they'd want to go to college, Tedd has his research to continue, Sarah isn't a fighter and wouldn't want to reveal her abilities anyhow, and Justin has never seemed to care that much about magic.

[Scotty 1,061]

Justin does care, he just seems more like the "With great power comes great responsibility" type. So he wouldn't likely go around using his magic just for the sake of using magic.

In an MMO setting, he'd be the one the sticks to the roads and only fights bandits that cross his path, while the others go out into the fields and grind.

[Xenophon Hendrix 47]

DGB is a branch of the FBI, which in our world can't be joined until one is 25 years old. On the other hand, we know that Edward probably has been keeping the powers that be updated. I can't imagine them wanting potential recruits like the Main Eight to slip away, with the possible exceptions of Justin and Sarah, whose powers haven't been made clear.

[Scotty 1,061]

Well, Justin's powers (the enhanced strength) are known by Edward, the fact that he got those powers from being marked wasn't known, neither is the fact that he's now awakened. everyone's just assumed he got the powers from Greg's martial arts training. As for Sarah, yeah no one else knows about that yet, considering she herself just found out, and will be getting a visit from Pandora in probably a matter of a couple hours to tell her about the spell and warn her to not tell Edward. I still think that warning was more because Edward would likely tell Sarah to not use the spell for cheating and sneaky stuff and that would ruin the whole "Don't be boring!" statement.

[Matoyak 51]

6 minutes ago, comicalArchitect said:

I have been wondering what the Main 8 are going to do with their lives after graduating. Perhaps some of them will go into the DGB and fight monsters full-time. Nanase and the Dunkels seem the most likely to do something like that. Susan and Grace both seem like they'd want to go to college, Tedd has his research to continue, Sarah isn't a fighter and wouldn't want to reveal her abilities anyhow, and Justin has never seemed to care that much about magic.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Dan's said that he planned for the main arc of EGS to be post high school, back when initially developing the comic. My bet is that we're heading towards a Justice League, Avengers, or Incredibles style superhero team when they hit their college years.

[ijuin 572]

13 hours ago, SeriousJupiter said:

Susan still needs training first. Greg is my best bet.

Training, very much yes. I was just trying to say that age is not the constraining factor here. Susan and Diane are in a position like Buffy in the first story arc--aware of their destiny as people who protect the world from monsters, but lacking in the training and experience needed for proper effectiveness.

 

10 hours ago, NaYa said:

I really, REALLY hope they introduce Andrea to Tedd. They could talk about SO many things and solve the problem of magic drain clogging!

Also, it would be really interesting to know what the griffins see when they look at Tedd and Grace.

As per the rules of narrative, the fact that the two of them might solve the problem when they get together means that they must not get together until it is time for the problem to be solved.

 

5 hours ago, Scotty said:

Well, it really depends on if Grace and/or Ellen have Adrian for any classes this year, I say and/or because it's possible that the provision for Grace and Ellen to have the same schedule only applied to the previous year so that Ellen could help Grace adjust to being in school, there's a good chance Grace doesn't need that anymore. Anyway Adrian interest in Ellen and Grace likely hasn't faded especially after learning about the nature of both of them, and yeah Grace being Tedd's girlfriend has influenced Adrian's involvement but I doubt he'd turn any of them away if they came to him with any questions about whats going on.

 Adrian knows about Grace and Nanase and Ellen (even if he doesn't know any of Ellen's specific spells/powers beyond that she is Awakened and has the Dewitchery Diamond-granted ability). He knows about Tedd even if he doesn't know the details of Tedd's "dangerous rarity" or Tedd's ability to in-depth analyze magic by sight. He may suspect that Elliot is Awakened (especially if he knows that it was Elliot who was split by the Diamond to create Ellen), but he probably has no awareness of Sarah or Susan at all, and Justin is probably also outside of his radar.

[weirdee 27]

At the end of the day, a griffin is still a lion bodied and sized eagle, and anything with that much claws and muscle combined with that much grip strength is usually more than a match for most mortal humans/equivalent human form abominations, especially those that basically act as parasites or scavengers; while dangerous, most of them aren't suited for extended direct confrontation and have to resort to quick and dirty methods such as bombs.

[ijuin 572]

It's largely a matter of how much the Vampires' strength/toughness is enhanced by their magic in comparison to a Griffin's--in other words, who is the stronger Mage. A form like not-Tengu's enhanced muscular form (when he "bulked up") would probably be very resilient to physical and magical attack even from a Griffin, in addition to having extreme physical strength, but his apparent lack of ranged attacks could leave him vulnerable to a "death by a thousand cuts" by an opponent's ranged attacks.

Speaking of Griffins, it does appear that they are naturally magical--at least, they have some inherent magic that allows them to fly, etc., even if they need training to become Awakened spellcasters the way that humans do.

[showler 14]

11 hours ago, Scotty said:

Elliot does know about the whales and they're warning to Tedd,

It only just now occurred to me that it is worrying that the whales disappeared right after communicating to Tedd that they had been slowing the work Pandora was doing.

[Scotty 1,061]

7 hours ago, ijuin said:

 Adrian knows about Grace and Nanase and Ellen (even if he doesn't know any of Ellen's specific spells/powers beyond that she is Awakened and has the Dewitchery Diamond-granted ability). He knows about Tedd even if he doesn't know the details of Tedd's "dangerous rarity" or Tedd's ability to in-depth analyze magic by sight. He may suspect that Elliot is Awakened (especially if he knows that it was Elliot who was split by the Diamond to create Ellen), but he probably has no awareness of Sarah or Susan at all, and Justin is probably also outside of his radar.

Nanase had stated that Adrian "Keeps telling Justin he has potential", even though that was likely before he was marked, Adrian probably still saw that Justin had some magic potential in him. The question is though, did he see that Justin had some innate ability, or just have what it takes to be given magic spells?

 

1 hour ago, showler said:

It only just now occurred to me that it is worrying that the whales disappeared right after communicating to Tedd that they had been slowing the work Pandora was doing.

One possibility is that the whales are on the outer edge of the concentrated ambient energy. That could be several miles away and way out of range of Tedd to be able to sense them. They said they could "only slow the contagion" so that would mean they'd be in a spot for as long as possible until the magic had peaked and then move outward. At the time of the whale's warning, the energy had peaked within a few square miles. Imagine how far it would have spread in the 6 months following.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

1 hour ago, Scotty said:

One possibility is that the whales are on the outer edge of the concentrated ambient energy. That could be several miles away and way out of range of Tedd to be able to sense them. They said they could "only slow the contagion" so that would mean they'd be in a spot for as long as possible until the magic had peaked and then move outward. At the time of the whale's warning, the energy had peaked within a few square miles. Imagine how far it would have spread in the 6 months following.

I really like this theory. It may even make sense in that the whales are actually incapable of feeding in an oversaturated area -- the food is simply too 'rich' for them.

[Cpt. Obvious 73]

17 hours ago, Scotty said:

Something else to note with this page, Andrea states that "for a long time, the flow of magic was simply slower", the whale told Tedd that "There is far more energy in this part of the world than there should be, there has been for much of your life".  That's definitely connected, and I still think it's related to the last time Adrian saw Pandora 14 (going on 15 now) years ago.  Back then, Pandora did something that restricted the flow of magic, letting some through but still allowed for elevated magic levels in Mopeville, the motives of which are still unknown, but after her promise to Adrian to "destroy the world" she's gone and completely blocked the flow.

This post made me think of the "why", as in why would Pandora bother to partially clog the magic drain in Moperville in the first place? If it's her who plugged it up completely, which seems quite likely, then why had she bothered to elevate the magic level many years ago?

My current theory is that it all started when Adrian moved there, and that she did it in order to ensure he had easy access to an ample amount of magic. In other words she was trying to be nice to her son.

Once she decided that remodeling the world in order to make it a better place for Adrian, turning off the drain entirely was just a matter of tweaking whatever she'd already done to it all those years ago.

So that's my theory. Now pick it apart and kick it around.