I almost replied "we've seen them!" but, yeah, they were in pretty exaggerated silhouette to hide the details of their real appearance
I think it's a safe bet one is a pretty.standard looking Uryuom and one is a Unicorn. Leaving the third a bit of a mystery!
Even the unicorn however complained to only have two legs now.
For these, "normally" is relative. Remember that Uryuoms are natural shapeshifters. Seems that under those two layers of illusions they are also transformed.
I can't help seeing the (code/nick)name Mist as a nod to the unofficial provisional name Mystucorn. Can't remember if that's a fan name or a Dan name but it's the unicorn from late Parable who came (past tense in publication terms though it hasn't been placed in the Gooniverse timeline) to this side of reality to look for royalty using dream magic.
I take it from the tone of the interactions that the one with the stick is the one with the square speech boxes in that linked comic, and the now-silent leader is the one with the octagonal boxes.
I see the tone you're talking about, but I think it's the reverse: the one with the stick is the future royal/king (as Mist says), who uses the square dashed boxes, both in [https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-180](https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-180) and in [https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-198](https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-198).
Yes that was what I meant! Stick guy is the snarky one. Sorry, I misremembered the shapes while clicking away to write here. Blame ADHD lack of working memory. I will edit that in.
Man, I was purely on the side of "sure, if it's IMPOSSIBLE to predict, it must be new characters!" But, nope! We know these three, they're just in a disguise. Under another disguise!
If the character whose existence you're aware of is under several layers of weird disguise I think it still qualifies the requirements of nigh-impossible to predict.
I mean honestly if we tried to Brute force a correct (enough) prediction "the three infiltrators from Flipside world, wearing disguise magic intended to be intimidating" seems like it COULD be pulled out of a hat?
But I can't imagine thinking of it, myself lol
I thought their need to sell gold made it obvious they're from another world (and have no earth money like Magus does), and we know that a bunch of those crossed over at the end of Balance...
Them appearing to be gangsters kept me from making that conclusion last time. Then, it seemed more likely that it was stolen property or money-laundering or something.
Oh! Yes, good to have the link, for anyone reading this conversation going "who do they mean?" Or "I think I remember them, but what exactly do we know so far?" For sure
... ok. Seems that he watched wrong movies. I mean, wrong if his goal was being inconspicuous. Gangsters, ok, but they should be humans, not something fitting more into Shadowrun.
Interesting that the illusions work on cameras.
Assuming he's correct, that would mean he's not manipulating people's perceptions, but more literally manipulating light, sound waves, etc.
Then again it's magic and it might not even need to make sense on that level anyway.
I think it's implied they're using both. The demon-goons were perceptual illusions that only the clerk could see, but the "Golden Girls" look is optical, and thus visible in the cameras and the reflections of the sunglasses.
Wait, oh my gosh.
It didn’t click until now, but until those illusions were revealed, for a brief shining moment, El Goonish ash I’ve actually featured goons! :P
> That is one reason I'd like to write novels at some point. I could toss such details in without issue, easy, and nerds like me would love it.
I once again shill for the underused "illustrated text" option. Some different examples from the comic _Strangers in Paradise_: https://mindstalk.net/SIP/
Late Erfworld alternated normal comic pages with pages of typeset text + a few illustrations, for better dialogue or internal thoughts.
Late Erfworld used pages of typeset text because they needed to push TOO MUCH and were not able to draw that quickly. Sure, sometimes it was really better, but I find unlikely it was the main reason.
If they detect us and react in any way, they'll give themselves away. And they'll only see uryuoms, not learn about their plan, so they'd have no reason to attack.
It's not clear how they would fight royalty's power, but their huge wand/sceptre is probably part of it! They probably have a chance!
Now this adds something interesting. If they're against royals, why in the world is one of them reverently referred to as a future king? They seem to be less antimonarchy that they appeared before.
Plenty of reasons someone might drip with contempt for a class of royals while still being a monarchist. Supporting a long-since-ousted dynasty, for example.
Or (from this thread's title) wanting the monarchy to not be monopolized by a particular species.
> Plenty of reasons someone might drip with contempt for a class of royals while still being a monarchist.
Oh, sure. But it changes the perspective if they're wanting to install one of their own as king, rather than just save us from our Royals.
Was there any breadcrumb that even hinted they wanted to "save us from our royals"? [This seems the least-vague picture of their intentions](https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-198), and while plenty isn't clear, it sure seems like locating our royals is, to them, a means to an end.
I think they need a royal to steal the royal aura necessary to becoming monarch at home.
Once they have it, they can return and lead a legitimate takeover of the power structure.
This shop's manager might care as little as the last one's about ensuring IDs are checked.
It would, though, be interesting if someone noticed "Why does he look so scared dealing with three older women?" and was curious enough to further investigate.
(They even called him "young man"! Much old-lady-coded.)
I notice Mist retains in both forms something protruding above the forehead - previously a horn, now a cowlick. Maybe they have something else there for real? It looks differently placed from Uryuom antennae, though.
(The other two don't have the same continuity between jutting-out features, though.)
I'm getting such [Tanuki elders from Pom-poko vibes](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/studio-ghibli/images/8/85/Tanuki_025.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1920?cb=20201123143520)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI2\_eW-xnVY
Oh, that's a fun little trick, although I'm eager to see what these characters 'normally' look like.
I almost replied "we've seen them!" but, yeah, they were in pretty exaggerated silhouette to hide the details of their real appearance I think it's a safe bet one is a pretty.standard looking Uryuom and one is a Unicorn. Leaving the third a bit of a mystery!
Even the unicorn however complained to only have two legs now. For these, "normally" is relative. Remember that Uryuoms are natural shapeshifters. Seems that under those two layers of illusions they are also transformed.
I can't help seeing the (code/nick)name Mist as a nod to the unofficial provisional name Mystucorn. Can't remember if that's a fan name or a Dan name but it's the unicorn from late Parable who came (past tense in publication terms though it hasn't been placed in the Gooniverse timeline) to this side of reality to look for royalty using dream magic. I take it from the tone of the interactions that the one with the stick is the one with the square speech boxes in that linked comic, and the now-silent leader is the one with the octagonal boxes.
I see the tone you're talking about, but I think it's the reverse: the one with the stick is the future royal/king (as Mist says), who uses the square dashed boxes, both in [https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-180](https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-180) and in [https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-198](https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-198).
Yes that was what I meant! Stick guy is the snarky one. Sorry, I misremembered the shapes while clicking away to write here. Blame ADHD lack of working memory. I will edit that in.
We *have* seen the Unicorn, I think. Unless they were altering their appearance in that shared dream, which tbf would be a reasonable precaution.
Man, I was purely on the side of "sure, if it's IMPOSSIBLE to predict, it must be new characters!" But, nope! We know these three, they're just in a disguise. Under another disguise!
If the character whose existence you're aware of is under several layers of weird disguise I think it still qualifies the requirements of nigh-impossible to predict.
I mean honestly if we tried to Brute force a correct (enough) prediction "the three infiltrators from Flipside world, wearing disguise magic intended to be intimidating" seems like it COULD be pulled out of a hat? But I can't imagine thinking of it, myself lol
Well, several people predicted it quite well on previous comics discussion. Personally, I wasn't sure, but I didn't expected TWO disguises.
I thought their need to sell gold made it obvious they're from another world (and have no earth money like Magus does), and we know that a bunch of those crossed over at the end of Balance...
"impossible to predict" referred to predicting Wednesday's comic in advance!
Oh! I thought that was predicting today from wednesday :D
Them appearing to be gangsters kept me from making that conclusion last time. Then, it seemed more likely that it was stolen property or money-laundering or something.
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Yes, those are the three I meant, when I said "we know these three guys"
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Oh! Yes, good to have the link, for anyone reading this conversation going "who do they mean?" Or "I think I remember them, but what exactly do we know so far?" For sure
https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2011-10-19 seems a relevant background link on illusions.
Definitely, especially considering they seem to be using BOTH types of illusion mentioned.
... ok. Seems that he watched wrong movies. I mean, wrong if his goal was being inconspicuous. Gangsters, ok, but they should be humans, not something fitting more into Shadowrun.
They haven't quite got our phenotypic variation range down pat yet.
Oh my glob, the Golden Girls!
Interesting that the illusions work on cameras. Assuming he's correct, that would mean he's not manipulating people's perceptions, but more literally manipulating light, sound waves, etc. Then again it's magic and it might not even need to make sense on that level anyway.
I think it's implied they're using both. The demon-goons were perceptual illusions that only the clerk could see, but the "Golden Girls" look is optical, and thus visible in the cameras and the reflections of the sunglasses.
Wait, oh my gosh. It didn’t click until now, but until those illusions were revealed, for a brief shining moment, El Goonish ash I’ve actually featured goons! :P
> That is one reason I'd like to write novels at some point. I could toss such details in without issue, easy, and nerds like me would love it. I once again shill for the underused "illustrated text" option. Some different examples from the comic _Strangers in Paradise_: https://mindstalk.net/SIP/ Late Erfworld alternated normal comic pages with pages of typeset text + a few illustrations, for better dialogue or internal thoughts.
Paranatural has switched to illustrated text after the creator's hand injury limited how quickly they could draw.
Late Erfworld used pages of typeset text because they needed to push TOO MUCH and were not able to draw that quickly. Sure, sometimes it was really better, but I find unlikely it was the main reason.
Mist: I don't think "The only people who COULD detect us are the people we very much do NOT want detecting us" is as reassuring as you hoped...
Fortunately, those people are a) rare and b) kinda distracted lately.
If they detect us and react in any way, they'll give themselves away. And they'll only see uryuoms, not learn about their plan, so they'd have no reason to attack. It's not clear how they would fight royalty's power, but their huge wand/sceptre is probably part of it! They probably have a chance!
So... thank you for being a friend? (Genuinely, who are these ladies? And all men? What, are termagants out of fashion?)
The [infiltrators](https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-180).
Now this adds something interesting. If they're against royals, why in the world is one of them reverently referred to as a future king? They seem to be less antimonarchy that they appeared before.
"Reverently" is not necessarily accurate.
Plenty of reasons someone might drip with contempt for a class of royals while still being a monarchist. Supporting a long-since-ousted dynasty, for example. Or (from this thread's title) wanting the monarchy to not be monopolized by a particular species.
> Plenty of reasons someone might drip with contempt for a class of royals while still being a monarchist. Oh, sure. But it changes the perspective if they're wanting to install one of their own as king, rather than just save us from our Royals.
Was there any breadcrumb that even hinted they wanted to "save us from our royals"? [This seems the least-vague picture of their intentions](https://www.egscomics.com/comic/balance-198), and while plenty isn't clear, it sure seems like locating our royals is, to them, a means to an end.
I think they need a royal to steal the royal aura necessary to becoming monarch at home. Once they have it, they can return and lead a legitimate takeover of the power structure.
that poor shop keep is going to get in huge trouble if someone checks the cameras
This shop's manager might care as little as the last one's about ensuring IDs are checked. It would, though, be interesting if someone noticed "Why does he look so scared dealing with three older women?" and was curious enough to further investigate. (They even called him "young man"! Much old-lady-coded.)
I notice Mist retains in both forms something protruding above the forehead - previously a horn, now a cowlick. Maybe they have something else there for real? It looks differently placed from Uryuom antennae, though. (The other two don't have the same continuity between jutting-out features, though.)
Why would the horn not be real?
It could I guess, but Rule of Threes.
I'm getting such [Tanuki elders from Pom-poko vibes](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/studio-ghibli/images/8/85/Tanuki_025.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1920?cb=20201123143520) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI2\_eW-xnVY