El Goonish ShiVe: Look! Squirrel!

[Celestia]

Would you believe I misread the original post as "voluntarily"?

... Yeah, I got nothing for involuntary transformations to male, unless you count Magus being pressured by societal expectations.

No. Societal pressure does not invalidate the onus of responsibility for a person's actions. If that were true, laws would be unenforceable, and civilization would collapse. Magus still voluntarily chose to transform.

[Rater202]

I hope that this doesn't mean that Diane is a full-elf now.

Not being able to do certain things that everyone else can do because a bunch of inhuman weirdos agreed that you weren't allowed to do them centuries before you were born has got to suck.

Though, considering how immortal law is enforced, I have to wonder if the Immortals can actually enforce those bans?

[Mith]

That sounds reasonable, but I don't think Diane got changed by a spell from the mirror. Ear-modification is very specific, and hadn't been brought up as a mode of the wand before, so I think that change is instead an artifact of Diane resisting whatever effect the mirror threw out, given that she's a quarter-immortal (and that effect in turn might have meant that she awakened just now). That'd also explain why no one was shrunk, as either Diane or Tedd could be the one to receive that spell and then resist it.

I was thinking that we went from closest to the mirror to farthest away, first spell recorded to most recent, and that Diane's ear mod was one from Noriko's time with the mirror.

It could also be a "full disguise based on the reflection" rather than general spell recording, which makes it specifically well suited for transformation magic.

[Celestia]

I hope that this doesn't mean that Diane is a full-elf now.

Not being able to do certain things that everyone else can do because a bunch of inhuman weirdos agreed that you weren't allowed to do them centuries before you were born has got to suck.

Though, considering how immortal law is enforced, I have to wonder if the Immortals can actually enforce those bans?

I didn't think about that, but I would actually love that. It gives Diane a story and a reason to be here, and, more importantly, it allows Dan to actually delve into what these rules are and how they work, deepening the world lore. This would also lead quite well into your question there. Diane is an intrinsically rebellious person and would definitely buck under restriction. Perhaps we could find out just what the limits are and where the lines are drawn.

[Celestia]

Update: The most recent page has been re-upload because Dan made an art mistake and miscolored one of the character's hair. Just incase this changes anyone's fan theories.

[Windscion]

• Sarah I think in a V5 form.
• I would say the second Tedd standing to the right is Grace considering the placement in this strip.
• Elliot most likely looking as Susan.
• Ellen in some blond female form.
• Nanase looking like Grace.

Thank you, I totally missed Diane's ears.
I thought Nanase was standing earlier, therefore clone Tedd is probably Nanase.
I think Grace is Grace, because antennae.
I think Sarah is next to Grace -- showing more tummy and less bust, which is very Sarah-like, and not Ellenish. I think Ellen is the V5 girl (or Mall Elliot form?) closest to Tedd Clone/Nanase because most likely to wear that and most likely to be next to Nanase.

What's weird, to me, is the choice of clones.
Justin did ask about looking like Nanase, which may be relevant.
Nanase is Tedd's (ugly?) cousin ... yeah, no real ideas here.
So, why does Susan look like Justin's new female form?

Of course this would mean that Sarah and Grace were unaffected barely affected -- Grace now has her antennae out, and Sarah lost her hairband. Tedd, as a seer can resist. But another explanation works better, I think. The mirror sees Grace and Sarah as "native" to the cellar, just as Tedd is, and avoids splashing them with magic not directed at them.

Or maybe I'm wrong about everything. I do like the idea of Diane awakening here, tho.

[Windscion]

I didn't think about that, but I would actually love that. It gives Diane a story and a reason to be here, and, more importantly, it allows Dan to actually delve into what these rules are and how they work, deepening the world lore. This would also lead quite well into your question there. Diane is an intrinsically rebellious person and would definitely buck under restriction. Perhaps we could find out just what the limits are and where the lines are drawn.

Eh, maybe? But the restrictions appear to be about affecting the world with the awesomeness of one's powerful magical heritage. And Diane isn't interested in changing the world that way. (https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2016-01-06)

[Rater202]

Eh, maybe? But the restrictions appear to be about affecting the world with the awesomeness of one's powerful magical heritage. And Diane isn't interested in changing the world that way. (https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2016-01-06)

Mr. Raven explicitly states that being an elf means he couldn't be in the miiltary.

His immortal heritage doesn't seem to give him anything that would particularly affect his performance in such a matter.

It's possible that the rules that Govern elves are oppressive strict.

Of course, we know with Immortals if you don't think you're breaking the rules then you aren't, and if you don't think the rules are valid in the first place then you're not breaking a rule.

Diane is Pandora's Gradndaughter and, as noted above, she has that rebellious streak.

[Lissou]

I think everyone is sitting/standing in the same place they were here which makes the Tedd clone Grace, and means that Nanase turned into Grace, including antennae somehow.

[Windscion]

Mr. Raven explicitly states that being an elf means he couldn't be in the miiltary.
His immortal heritage doesn't seem to give him anything that would particularly affect his performance in such a matter.

Nowadays, sure. But recall the rules are old, from when combat was chainmail, pikes and crossbows (or earlier). Nowadays, a half-immortal wizard would mostly be useful as a spy and/or assassin.

How rules for hybrids are enforced is unclear, but Adrian Raven told Abraham "No one will care if I kill you." This suggests that whatever the mechanism is, it isn't automagical like those which govern immortals themselves.

Also, the rules restricting immortals are not likely to prevent them from enforcing any other rules they have agreed on.

[Rater202]

How rules for hybrids are enforced is unclear, but Adrian Raven told Abraham "No one will care if I kill you." This suggests that whatever the mechanism is, it isn't automagical like those which govern immortals themselves.

But that would require the Fairies to be hypocrites!...

Of course, we don't really have a decent enough sample.

We have Voltaire, who is a narcissistic jackass who wants immortals to be able to screw with humans whenever they want.

We have the French Immortals, who in their previous life went out of their way to manipulate two children into becoming killers to deal with a vampire instead of going to the proper authorities and arbitrarily decided that Magus's time was up and he had to die.

And an unknown number of immortals that tortured Magus for funzies.

And Zeus, who clearly on some level resents being bound by Jerry's vows and sense of responsibility. Still seems like a good guy, but not as much a good guy as Jerry.

On the good side, we Jerry.

We have Pandora in her lucid moments—when he mental illness is going she's almost as bad as Voltaire

And we have Hanma, assuming that her canonical self is more or less the same as her appearance in Goonmanji.

It'd may in fact be totally in-character for Immorals to decide on totally arbitrary rules for their mortal/"mortal" offspring and enforce them even though they themselves refuse to be judged by others unless they knowingly and willingly break the rules.

[Lord Raziere]

It'd may in fact be totally in-character for Immorals to decide on totally arbitrary rules for their mortal/"mortal" offspring and enforce them even though they themselves refuse to be judged by others unless they knowingly and willingly break the rules.

wouldn't be surprising, thats mostly consistent for spiritual/supernatural beings of all mythologies. I mean, what mythological being isn't a hypocritical jerk at the end of the day?

[Rater202]

So, we got a rolecall.

Also, Diane... You remember New Years, don't you? Having a procedure in place for this kind of thing is just common sense.

So I imagine that the next step will be to see if Grace can change back on her own.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

For the NP, Jay appears to be enjoying this a little too much. OTOH, these are the people that had her locked up for at least a few hours and probably a few days, so perhaps that sadistic grin is warranted.

[Gnoman]

Last panel is interesting, as it implies that Grace has picked up Tedd's myopia. She's never included that (as far as I can recall) in any of her transformation spells, which is a hit to the "mirror is just tossing out the spells it saw" theory.

[Windscion]

Last panel is interesting, as it implies that Grace has picked up Tedd's myopia. She's never included that (as far as I can recall) in any of her transformation spells, which is a hit to the "mirror is just tossing out the spells it saw" theory.

More interestingly, Nanase says "Everything is weird" while having antennae out, suggesting that she has gained Grace's enhanced senses. That's a new thing right there. (Also, her expression is very Grace, but that may just be ... artistic limitations. Aka, the thing that launched the whole Diane -&- Susan connection subplot.)

Also, Grace may feel like the world is fuzzy because she lost her extra Uryuom-type senses.

[Radar]

Update: The most recent page has been re-upload because Dan made an art mistake and miscolored one of the character's hair. Just incase this changes anyone's fan theories.

It actually did, since from the black hair, I though that Elliot looks like Susan. In my defence, there were not much details to work with from that shot.

I am giving myself a cookie anyway. I mean, I would still eat a cookie, but now I am totally giving myself one.

edit: I do wonder, why and how the changes are so throughout and how easy they will be to undo. Since the mirror only started working after magic's "not changing", anything could be true and we already did see completly unforseen magical effects from not-quite-working artifacts with Kevin.

[Rater202]

Actually, we don't know if this is related to the "not-change."

We know that the Mirror was supposed to save magical energy but instead it did a fwooshy thing and then got replaced by Cheesecake.

This might be what the Fwooshy thing did all along.

And I'm pretty sure it was Noriko who made it, since the dialog doesn't sound like Edward's normal speech...

Ooh... They might have to call Tedd's Mom to figure out how to fix this.

Or, multible levels of awkward: First they call Tedd's dad, who rushes over becuase emergency... And Lavander comes with him, leading into that conversation... And he cna't do **** so they have to call Raven, leading to Awkward with Diane and Susan and, possibly, Noah.... And all he can do is criticism the craftmanship, as alluded to so then they have to call Noriko.

[Fyraltari]

Actually, we don't know if this is related to the "not-change."

We know that the Mirror was supposed to save magical energy but instead it did a fwooshy thing and then got replaced by Cheesecake.

This might be what the Fwooshy thing did all along.

And I'm pretty sure it was Noriko who made it, since the dialog doesn't sound like Edward's normal speech...

Ooh... They might have to call Tedd's Mom to figure out how to fix this.

Or, multible levels of awkward: First they call Tedd's dad, who rushes over becuase emergency... And Lavander comes with him, leading into that conversation... And he cna't do **** so they have to call Raven, leading to Awkward with Diane and Susan and, possibly, Noah.... And all he can do is criticism the craftmanship, as alluded to so then they have to call Noriko.

and will know that the more akward an event the more likely it is to happen in this comic.

[Radar]

Actually, we don't know if this is related to the "not-change."

We know that the Mirror was supposed to save magical energy but instead it did a fwooshy thing and then got replaced by Cheesecake.

This might be what the Fwooshy thing did all along.

And I'm pretty sure it was Noriko who made it, since the dialog doesn't sound like Edward's normal speech...

Ooh... They might have to call Tedd's Mom to figure out how to fix this.

Or, multible levels of awkward: First they call Tedd's dad, who rushes over becuase emergency... And Lavander comes with him, leading into that conversation... And he cna't do **** so they have to call Raven, leading to Awkward with Diane and Susan and, possibly, Noah.... And all he can do is criticism the craftmanship, as alluded to so then they have to call Noriko.

I am not sure about the whole chain of events, but the idea that Noriko was the one, who made the mirror might be actually right. Edward would not have forgetten about a magical mirror he made, so he would have warned Tedd about it as he has seen it together with Tedd and most likely knew that Tedd would use it to view themself transformed or for a whole transformation party concerning the comment about who should move it.

[Rater202]

I am not sure about the whole chain of events, but the idea that Noriko was the one, who made the mirror might be actually right. Edward would not have forgetten about a magical mirror he made, so he would have warned Tedd about it as he has seen it together with Tedd and most likely knew that Tedd would use it to view themself transformed or for a whole transformation party concerning the comment about who should move it.

I mean, it's obviously not Edward in the flashback and who else could have made it?

[Gnoman]

More interestingly, Nanase says "Everything is weird" while having antennae out, suggesting that she has gained Grace's enhanced senses. That's a new thing right there. (Also, her expression is very Grace, but that may just be ... artistic limitations. Aka, the thing that launched the whole Diane -&- Susan connection subplot.)

Also, Grace may feel like the world is fuzzy because she lost her extra Uryuom-type senses.

That's a good point - I'd assumed that line had to do with her being furry and short, since I don't recall Nanase getting nearly as much shapeshifting as the rest of the cast outside of her fairy dolls. Your interpretation makes more sense.

[Coretron03]

I thought Tedd didn’t actually need glassess and just wore them because of the features of the glasses themselves? If so, where would Grace’s vision problems come from?

[Rater202]

I thought Tedd didn’t actually need glassess and just wore them because of the features of the glasses themselves? If so, where would Grace’s vision problems come from?

In the card game tournament arc it was commented that Tedd might actually need glasses now becuase he had to squint to see things far away. At first, Tedd denied it, but...

And in the last couple of years, Tedd has been drawn on multiple occasions as wearing ordinary, non-technological glasses.

So, basically, Tedd, like many people, started out with perfect vision and then developed myopia later in life.

Or maybe Tedd had just never been to the optometrist after te first diagnosis of 20/20 vision and his vision had been slowly deteriorating ever since: My vision got bad enough that I needed glasses between my first and second optometrists appointment, but I lost my first pair of glasses and never found them again it wasn't until middle school like, at least six years later that my vision was bad enough that I needed needed glasses.

[Qwertystop]

In the card game tournament arc it was commented that Tedd might actually need glasses now becuase he had to squint to see things far away. At first, Tedd denied it, but...

And in the last couple of years, Tedd has been drawn on multiple occasions as wearing ordinary, non-technological glasses.

So, basically, Tedd, like many people, started out with perfect vision and then developed myopia later in life.

Or maybe Tedd had just never been to the optometrist after te first diagnosis of 20/20 vision and his vision had been slowly deteriorating ever since: My vision got bad enough that I needed glasses between my first and second optometrists appointment, but I lost my first pair of glasses and never found them again it wasn't until middle school like, at least six years later that my vision was bad enough that I needed needed glasses.

Tedd's new non-magical glasses were shown in this arc, immediately prior to the first use of the wand by Diane (changing Ashley's hair color). Everyone made a bigger fuss about the glasses than the wand and Diane thought they were trolling her.

Here's the first page of that.

[Rater202]

Tedd's new non-magical glasses were shown in this arc, immediately prior to the first use of the wand by Diane (changing Ashley's hair color). Everyone made a bigger fuss about the glasses than the wand and Diane thought they were trolling her.

Here's the first page of that.

Actually no, Tedd's glasses were first shown in this NP strip a few months before that.

I think we had a conversation about it here.

[Qwertystop]

Actually no, Tedd's glasses were first shown in this NP strip a few months before that.

I think we had a conversation about it here.

Huh. Forgot that.

[Radar]

You know? I just noticed that the current NP story is already going for a whole year. I wonder how long this will be.

[Rater202]

Tedd needs a cooldown hug, ASAP.

She's never gonna figure out a solution if she's too angry about Noriko being Noriko.

[Fyraltari]

Ah! Symbolism!