El Goonish Shive

[Lamech]

I would like to see the rumour chain. Somehow, I suspect that the idea that Elliot is gay was (maliciously?) implanted by Baldy. This might be the "move" (s)he was talking about.

Grey Wolf

Baldy makes no sense. He is almost certainly gunning for Susan. (With a GUN!)

I agree it is panel 4 girl. She is the one talking about "realized". Soon she shall realize the wrath of Susan I suspect.

[Weimann]

Baldy makes no sense. He is almost certainly gunning for Susan. (With a GUN!)

Assuming it's a he.

I also think this is not Baldy's plan. For one, it doesn't seem effective. If Baldy suspects Susan is about to get together with Elliot, then surely she would be in the best of positions to call his bluff? She can get first-hand info from the main source, and if she felt embarrassed (which is understandable), she could ask in a "hey, have you heard this rumour, what a load of crock, right?" way.

It might be part of Baldy's plan, though. It's possible. Panel 4-girl being the culprit seems like a much more reasonable, though. This is way to flimsy to be a legit attempt at pre-emptive relationship sabotage (man, that sounds complicated ).

[Lamech]

It would backfire so hard.
"You're gay?!?"
"No."
"Erm... I was just wondering because... erm..."
"Because you want to get coffee?"
*Relationship acquired*

But with better dialogue since its a non-crappy writer.

[Felius]

The thing is, Elliot is gay. Some of the time. Specifically, the times he is a woman.

Sorry, too easy.

[Forrestfire]

The thing is, Elliot is gay. Some of the time. Specifically, the times he is a woman.

Sorry, too easy.

I am trying to find an issue with this argument, but it fits the scenario too perfectly.

[Pink]

The thing is, Elliot is gay. Some of the time. Specifically, the times he is a woman.

Sorry, too easy.

*clap clap* Nicely done old sport.

[Lamech]

Is she? (Elliot) The TF gun would make Elliot bi. What do her other transformations do? She might be gay some of the time though. I may be using pronouns wrong. ITS NOT MY FAULT I'M ONLY A CAT I CAN'T READ THE MINDS OF FICTIONAL CHARACTERS OVER THE INTERNET

[Felius]

*clap clap* Nicely done old sport.

Hehehe, I try.

But seriously, once you start mixing gender bending magic (or techno magic, which is pretty much the same when you get down to it ) the labels "straight" and "gay" start losing meaning. It might be better to go with something with a "prefer males/females" (And "Prefer Tedd" for Grace but she's an outlier. ) word that ignores the gender of the character in question. Ideally without sounding something out of Wrestling. (ProFemale anyone? :P)

On another note, I'm probably serious over thinking this.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

On another note, I'm probably serious over thinking this.

Actually, you probably aren't. We should all get into the habit of separating biological sex from mental sex from sexual orientation anyway (and I believe I'm missing one more distinction there - I'm also not sure about "mental", but hopefully its clear what I mean: what the person believes to be their sex). For Elliot, those would be something like:

Biological Sex: Born male, switches to female on a regular basis
Mental Sex: Male
Sexual Orientation: Attracted to females 99% of the time, Tedd 1% of the time.

Even in an "ideal" world in which all those above had only two possible answers each, that would still require 8 words to describe them; and we all know that in the real world, there is a lot of grey areas in all three, so it is rather pitiful we are trying to use single words to explain all three concepts at once - and one of the reason why LGBT keeps appending more and more letters to the end of their acronym.

Grey Wolf

[Mina Kobold]

Is she? (Elliot) The TF gun would make Elliot bi. What do her other transformations do? She might be gay some of the time though. I may be using pronouns wrong. ITS NOT MY FAULT I'M ONLY A CAT I CAN'T READ THE MINDS OF FICTIONAL CHARACTERS OVER THE INTERNET

Considering Elliot indicates that he identifies as male (e.g. being uncomfortable with having to transform to an appearance that doesn't fit that), masculine pronouns seem appropriate.

Hehehe, I try.

But seriously, once you start mixing gender bending magic (or techno magic, which is pretty much the same when you get down to it ) the labels "straight" and "gay" start losing meaning. It might be better to go with something with a "prefer males/females" (And "Prefer Tedd" for Grace but she's an outlier. ) word that ignores the gender of the character in question. Ideally without sounding something out of Wrestling. (ProFemale anyone? :P)

On another note, I'm probably serious over thinking this.

Androsexual and gynosexual have been coined as alternatives to orientation names that rely on a person's own gender (very relevant if your gender is not binary), if that fits. Though, seeing as Elliot still seem to identify as a man, the common labels could still be used based on that.

Grace actually appears to be demisexual (or Teddsexual, as would also apply. :3), meaning that she is generally asexual, but can become attracted to someone if the emotional relationship is close enough (emphasis on "can").

So you're not overthinking it! Except the wrestling part, that's clearly nutty.


And since I probably shouldn't have only off-topic exposition in my first post; it's quite disheartening that a school assuming that the only reason a couple can break up and still be friends is the realisation of incompatible sexual orientations sounds plausible to me. Darn you cynicism! This is a comic about shapeshifting, aliens and magic, be optimistic about people not being narrow-sighted! >_<

[Weimann]

Spoiler: This just in!

Show

Susan likes mongooses.

[Landis963]

Diane has made me like her, despite all my efforts to the contrary. This is surprising.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Diane has made me like her, despite all my efforts to the contrary. This is surprising.

She's becoming more human, despite all of her efforts to the contrary, which is why she is more likeable now that when she was a bitch to her friends and her only goal was to practice dating techniques on Elliot.

GW

[Lizard Lord]

When was she a bitch to her friends? She was a bitch to everyone else, sure, but I remember that she treats Rhoda quite well. Admittedly I don't remember much of her interactions with her other friend (nor said friend's name).

[Silva Stormrage]

When was she a bitch to her friends? She was a bitch to everyone else, sure, but I remember that she treats Rhoda quite well. Admittedly I don't remember much of her interactions with her other friend (nor said friend's name).

She was a bit insensitive at times, she mentions at one point that Rhoda became less attractive after gaining weight, if you count justin as a "friend" then she also can't be bothered to remember his name.

Still seeing her with those eyes was hilarious. Susan and her need to have a glare off

[Lord Raziere]

I like how the last two panels are basically mirror images of each other.

[John Cribati]

Catalina. That is like, the opposite of helping.

[Weimann]

Kisses for science!

At first I was like , but then I was like .

But yeah, this doesn't actually say anything about Elliot. I mean, just look at yourself, Cat. You're lesbian, and you're kissing a boy. This experiment can't prove anything.

And additionally, rushing up and pinning someone to a wall like that is not a cool move, either. Consent and all that, y'know? Though it is in character for her, I suppose.

which isn't to say she's a rapist damn this got dark fast

[Lamech]

While Catalina may be cute enough (kitty!) to be shipped, if the poster above me is correct she is a lesbian which makes that ship... actually, that doesn't stop anything at all.

[Keris]

[...]if the poster above me is correct she is a lesbian [...]

I'd be inclined to agree with Weimann on that front.

[Lamech]

Luckily they can still be shipped. Huzzah!
Edit: Well not really since she is dating someone else. Back to shipping Elliot and Susan/Diane!

[Forrestfire]

Both of them?

[Lamech]

Both of them?

Either would be pretty cool. Both could work except, I'm pretty sure Elliot couldn't handle it. Nor do I think Susan or Diane would put up with it.

[Radar]

Either would be pretty cool. Both could work except, I'm pretty sure Elliot couldn't handle it. Nor do I think Susan or Diane would put up with it.

Well, one of Elliot's superhero secret identities would handle it flyingly. I do however agree, that totaly-not-twins would not agree to share Elliot.

[Lizard Lord]

Anyone else feel sorry for the girl in the third panel of today's strip?

[Silva Stormrage]

Anyone else feel sorry for the girl in the third panel of today's strip?

I feel bad for ELLIOT more than anyone else

[Weimann]

"Oh God, this false rumour is so annoying. Whatever can we do to stop it?"
"Uh... start more false rumours?"
"Brilliant!"

I can see her idea, though. She knows that these rumours aren't about to stop just because someone told the truth about them or anything that mundane. As stories, they are best counteracted by other, more interesting stories. And stories are better sold by showing, not telling.

Isn't Catalina publicly known to be gay, though? As evidenced above, she's pretty open about it.

I kind of feel for the girl in panel 3. She never stood a chance against Susan in the first place, but it feels bad that she gets lied to this way. On the other hand, it strikes me as I type this, if she bought the gay rumours, maybe she just saw light. Hm.

[Lizard Lord]

I feel bad for ELLIOT more than anyone else

Meh. Elliot will have it explained to him as soon as there is a chance. However, as far as we know, Cat nor any of the main characters know her and thus would have no reason to explain anything to her.

Plus this whole thing must just be hard for her to watch since, unlike the main characters (Elliot included), she has no reason to not believe this is exactly what it is suppose to look like.

[Silva Stormrage]

Meh. Elliot will have it explained to him as soon as there is a chance. However, as far as we know, Cat nor any of the main characters know her and thus would have no reason to explain anything to her.

Plus this whole thing must just be hard for her to watch since, unlike the main characters (Elliot included), she has no reason to not believe this is exactly what it is suppose to look like.

Wait isn't it decently well known that Catalina is gay? I mean thats one of the reasons I thought that this whole thing was a hilariously bad plan in the first place.

[Lizard Lord]

Wait isn't it decently well known that Catalina is gay? I mean thats one of the reasons I thought that this whole thing was a hilariously bad plan in the first place.

I'm actually not sure how well known it is. Yes, Catalina doesn't try to make it a secret (and will blurt it out to prove a point) but I don't think Susan herself knew until Catalina asked her out and they seemed to be good friends well before that. I could be wrong about Susan not knowing though.

Actually, now that I think about it, Susan thought that Catalina didn't want people to know until she blurted it out at the rental store. To me that implies that most people don't know. (I am guessing blurting it out to prove a point is very rare if not a one time thing. Admittedly that is something I would guess anyway, but yea.)

The main reason I say that the main characters should know better is that people that know both Catalina and Elliot will know that what Catalina is saying about the two of them being on and off again is simply not true.