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Before The Party is the eighth storyline group in the main canon of EGS. It opened on November 9th, 2004 and closed on May 20th, 2005, for a total of 62 comics. Most of this storyline group deals with the buildup to and planning for Grace's Birthday Party and convincing the gang to come to it. The following happens in its chapters or storylines:

  • Scattered pages (for which Moping Squirrel is named): Grace swears off using her shapeshifting powers since she feels guilty about fighting Damien in Painted Black.
  • Moping Squirrel: Edward Verres suggests to Grace and Ellen that they throw a party with their friends on Grace's birthday.
  • Intro to South: (completely unrelated to Grace's birthday party) Diane asks Nanase to sit with her for school lunch to attract boys.
  • Scattered pages: In Ellen's Second Life dreams, Ellen has a crush on Archie and Tedd has an unrequited crush on Ellen.
  • Party Recruiting: Tedd invites Elliot, Sarah and Susan to Grace's birthday party, which involves everyone changing sexes (except Ellen) and wearing outfits provided by each other. Tedd is scared of seeing Grace in a male form.
  • Even More Recruiting: At the ASMA Dojo, Elliot invites Nanase and Justin to Grace's birthday party.
  • Party Fashion: Principal Verrückt's school uniform policy, which includes skirts for the women, is announced, and Susan opposes it. Susan arranges for Nanase to provide party clothes for Ellen (Susan was supposed to provide them herself). Susan decides to trade school uniforms with Tedd since she doesn't want to wear a skirt and Tedd wants a girl's school uniform for the party.
  • Family Reunion: Grace's family congratulate her on her birthday. Vladia and Dr. Sciuridae talk her out of feeling guilt about fighting Damien and persuade her to use her shapeshifting powers again.

Moping Squirrel[]

On Monday, March 4,[1] while Grace was sitting on the couch thinking about her fight with Damien (in the storyline Painted Black) and feeling down, she was interrupted by a tackle hug from Ellen.[2] Ellen tried to get Grace to talk about why she was "out of it" and why she didn't have her antennae, but Grace declined.[3]

Mr. Verres appeared and told Grace that everything was almost ready for her to go to school with Ellen.[3] He was doing this so that they could help each other get adjusted to school. Ellen expressed worry that Grace might not be able to catch up with the rest of the class, but Mr. Verres replied that despite being naive and bubbly Grace was extremely smart and a fast learner.[4] He then mentioned that Grace's birthday would be that Saturday, and said she could have a party at the house. When Ellen was thrilled to have an unsupervised party, Mr. Verres said that Elliot would be supervising it.[5] When Ellen said that she was like Elliot since she was his double, he replied that Elliot tends to keep things under control, while Ellen tends to rely on impulses.[6]

Later, when Grace was worried that some wouldn't want to come (she was thinking of Sarah's tearful fury after Hedge abducted Elliot to get to Grace), Ellen suggested that she shouldn't worry about that, and should instead focus on thinking about the festivities. Grace told Ellen her idea for the theme of the party, and Ellen loved it.[7]

Intro to South[]

On the same day[8] at Moperville South High School Nanase was thinking about Ellen when Justin asked how long she was grounded for staying at Tedd's house (in the storyline Painted Black); Nanase explained she only got a small lecture, apparently because her mother thought she was Tedd's math tutor.[9] Nanase said she was going to drop by the Comic shop later (that visit is shown in the NP storyline Magic Comic Shop). Justin asked what kind of book she had bought at the bookstore the day before; Nanase was nervous about answering until Diane appeared, allowing her to escape the conversation.[10]

Diane, Lucy and Rhoda wanted Nanase to come sit with them, but Nanase knew that it was just so guys would come by and then buy stuff for them. Nanase said she would sit with them if Justin got to sit with them also.[11] Diane refused, and told Nanase that her asking the latter to sit with them was a compliment; Nanase saw otherwise.[12]

Melissa was talking to Noah about how Diane was hitting on Justin; Noah pointed out they were likely talking to Nanase, but Melissa chose to believe it was all about Justin.[13]

Party Recruiting[]

At Tedd's house, Grace came to Tedd's bedroom at night and expressed doubts that everyone would accept the theme of her party. Tedd, meanwhile, had doubts about his attraction to Grace during- and post-party, but did not voice them.[14]

Meanwhile, Ellen had another Second Life dream in which her dream-self expressed attraction toward a seyunolu named Archie despite of, or perhaps because of, his abnormal antennae. When dream-Tedd asked dream-Ellen if she liked any other boys, she said no, inadvertently rejecting him.[15]

The next day (Tuesday, March 5) at Moperville North High School, Tedd indirectly expressed his dread at telling Elliot, Sarah and Susan the theme for the party.[16] When he finally told them the theme was gender-switching at lunch, they were stunned; Susan accused him of coming up with the idea.[17] Tedd explained why Ellen was excluded from the gender-swap transformation and laid the onus for the party happening on Elliot's attendance.[18] Elliot said that he would go to the party but not transform unless Sarah did. She promptly agreed, to Elliot's surprise. She then gave her reasons for agreeing, and Elliot was then forced to agree as well. Susan started to object,[19] but before she could say no she her curiosity and logic had a mental debate.[20] This concluded in both sides agreeing that she should go. She therefore conceded and told the group she would go, to the confusion of Tedd, who obviously did not see her thought process.[21] Tedd then revealed the clothing swap aspect of the party.[22]

Later, Tedd expressed to Elliot his worries about Grace wanting to be a guy.[23] He said he thought Grace was bisexual. Elliot disagreed, and said that she was simply attracted to Tedd no matter what his form was. Tedd then questioned Elliot's resistance to the party, which Elliot explained as "Because it sounds like one big awkward moment."[24] They then discussed the apparent effects of the TF Gun during the Sister story arc, and realized the cause of the effects were a mystery. The French Immortals then showed up, disguised as students, and remarked on how that revelation may be part of the reason for their spying on Elliot.[25] They also commented on the mysterious nature of their abnormal amnesia.[26]

After school, Tedd reflected on his view of Grace as a guy, specifically that he did not object to her being in his form, and came to the disturbing revelation that either he was a narcissist or just that girly.[27] When he got home, he initially thought Grace was not going to greet him at the door; she pounced while in a cat form. Grace explained that she used the TF Gun to turn herself into a half-cat; Tedd told her she could not turn back to normal without using her abilities.[28]

When Elliot got home, he was greeted by Ellen, who was sporting an evil grin. He told her that everyone at school had agreed to the party, and Ellen gave an evil laugh. Elliot complained that he was not given enough notice, but Ellen disagreed.[29]

Meanwhile, the French Immortals were continuing to monitor Elliot while invisible in his house when they sensed Magus leaving. As he was leaving, Magus thought about the inconvenience of the immortals before realizing that the party provided a pretty good opportunity to carry out his plan of resurrecting himself.[30]

Even More Recruiting[]

At the Anime Style Martial Arts Dojo, Nanase reflected on her defeat at the hands of Vlad (in the storyline Painted Black) and her insecurity at being a lesbian, and sought to prove that she was not weak. In her anger, she destroyed a punching bag. Seeing this, Elliot started to dread her potential behavior while male, while Justin cowered behind him. Nanase apologized, but Sensei Greg reassured that he bought punching bags in bulk.[31]

When Elliot told them about the party, he got a similar reaction to Tedd's telling. Seeking a way out of the awkward situation, he attempted to summon the Demonic Duck, but the duck was on strike; this provided a distraction in and of itself, because they were confused by the duck's being on strike.[32]

Nanase expressed doubts about the safety of transformation and revealed to Justin that Elliot could transform without the gun, which Greg overheard. Elliot tried to reassure them with favourable facts about transformation, but Justin pointed out the audacity of the proposal and questioned who would calmly agree to it. Nanase promptly calmly agreed, shocking both Elliot and Justin.[33] When Justin questioned her motives, she defended Grace and blamed Tedd for Grace's views, saying it was standard procedure to blame Tedd. Just then, Greg dumped a bucket of water on Elliot and explained that he was expecting him to transform like in Ranma ½. Upon hearing that was not the method of transformation, Greg asked Justin to dry Elliot off, which he agreed to enthusiastically.[34] Elliot continued to try and persuade Justin, and succeeded when he said he would let Justin play with his hair and would transform so it was extra long.[35]

Greg came over and asked that they tell Grace "happy birthday" for him, and also to tell her to come to receive training from him, in order to learn less violent ways to defend herself. He also asked Elliot to try to convince Ellen to come to the dojo as well.[36]

Back at Tedd's house, Tedd tried to persuade Grace to transform back, and Grace explained that she thought she didn't deserve her powers because she lost control during her fight with Damien.[37]

Party Fashion[]

The next day (Wednesday, March 6) at school (while the female immortal spied on them in the background) Sarah explained to Elliot that she was having difficulty deciding how to pick out clothes for him; she was trying to work out what clothes she, in the role of boyfriend, would like Elliot wearing in the role of girlfriend - but she had never been a boyfriend and didn't know how she would really feel when she became one. Elliot said he had no such difficulty since he was a guy and didn't care much for clothes.[38]

They then met with Tedd and Susan at an assembly.[39] The purpose of the assembly was to announce the implementation of a mandatory dress code for Moperville North High School and that decision was made a result of Tedd and Susan's actions during the Red Alert storyline.[40] Matt Cohen described the time frame in which the uniforms would be given out and their appearance, the latter aided by fellow student council members. When he invited questions about the dress code, Susan spoke out against it.[41] Principal Verrückt tried to give rationales for the dress code but Susan was undaunted. Sarah expressed worry about looking good in a uniform.[42] Elliot tried to reassure her, but went on to say that he thought all the girls would look hot in uniform, Sarah decided that she would have Elliot wear the girls' uniform to the party.[43]

That night in Ellen's Second Life dream, Ellen was offended that Archie wouldn't date her and talked about it with Kaoli but Tedd explained that Archie was likely asexual, like many seyunolus, to cheer her up and steer her away from Archie. The only thing Ellen took away from his explanation was that Archie would probably be into hugging and cuddling, and she decided to take that. Meanwhile, Tedd realized he only succeeded in pushing her closer to Archie and away from him.[44]

The next day (Thursday, March 7) Susan and Ellen instant messaged each other at home. The discussed their choices for each other's party outfits and Susan revealed she did not have one picked out for her but she got an idea in the middle of the conversation.[45] Susan then contacted Nanase to ask her to pick out the outfit for Ellen. Nanase agreed, which made her mind preoccupied.[46] Susan told Ellen the change of plans and Ellen was satisfied with it. Meanwhile, Nanase was distracted while playing an online game with Justin and blamed it on deciding what she was going to choose for him to wear for the party.[47]

The next day (Friday, March 8), Tony complained to his friend about the resistance to the uniforms. When Tedd walked by he made it a point to tease him about wearing the girls uniform. Tony's friend tried to defend Tedd telling Tony that he shouldn't make fun of gays because it isn't politically correct but only succeeded in implying that Tedd was gay.[48] Meanwhile, in the school gym, Susan attempted to get a guy uniform for herself. TC, who was manning the table, said he was not allowed to accept girl vouchers for guy uniforms and sent her on her way.[49] As Susan was leaving she noticed Tedd had gone to the girls' uniform line up and attempted to get girl uniforms, supposedly for Grace but actually for himself to wear at the party; he already had clothes that fit the dress code. This gave Susan an idea on how to capitalize on the situation by swapping uniforms with Tedd.[50]

Meanwhile, at Moperville South High School, Justin discussed the party with Nanase. Justin didn't like Grace; because of the nature of the situations in which he met Grace, he thought Grace attracted trouble. He was shocked when Nanase told him that Grace would be coming to their school. Nanase pointed out that she saved her life and Justin gave Grace credit for that. Nanase said that Grace will need friends to help her adjust to hiding her identity and abilities. Justin pointed out that she was currently floating. Nanase initially found nothing wrong with that until they encountered Mr. Bleuel who expressed disapproval at her.[51]

At the Dunkel residence, Grace and Ellen were picking out clothes when Grace suddenly realized Ellen might be uncomfortable at Sarah being there with Elliot. Ellen told her that she didn't feel that way toward Sarah any more and was looking forward to seeing her as a friend and happy with Elliot. She then said she was open to being a friend "with benefits". Grace interpreted that to mean things like sharing stuff and Ellen ran with that interpretation.[52]

That night Justin had a dream involving him and Elliot. Elliot said he could never love him and went on to end his sentence with "as you are". Elliot then transformed Justin into a girl and morphed Justin's clothes to undergarments. Justin protested but Elliot said this is the only way they could be together. Justin then woke up and thought that the dream only added to his anxiety about the party.[53]

Family Reunion[]

The following morning (Saturday, March 9), Mr. Verres woke Grace up at 9:00 AM. When she remarked that it was early he told her that she would have to get up earlier for school. He led her to the basement and sat her at the computer. There via webcam were her brothers (although one of them was now a sister) wishing her happy birthday.[54] Grace stood up excitement and tackle hugged Mr. Verres, thanking him, and calling him daddy. When he tried to protest she said he was a father figure to her despite being his son's girlfriend.[55]

Grace went back to the webcam Hedge described what had happened to them since the Painted Black story arc and their living conditions. Grace then asked Guineas why he was still in his animal form. Guineas responded that he thought the women there were scared of his human form. Grace then managed (with the help of Vladia) to convince him that the women were attracted to him.[56] Grace asked Vladia why she had not assumed a male form as she was zapped with a TF beam and should be able to transform safely. Vladia responded that she should have been able to transform safely before but couldn't so being hit with a TF beam didn't give her any guarantee of doing so safely now. She also brought up the fact that she no longer had antennae on her face. Grace agreed that the beam shouldn't have been so thorough and Vladia said that Ellen must have modified it by putting more power into it. Vladia said she was happy the way she is now and hadn't threatened anyone in days.[57]

They then asked Grace why she was still full human and Grace explained why she felt she didn't deserve her abilities. Upon hearing that Vladia got angry at her and berated her for her senseless guilt. Grace protested that she lost control and beat up Damien to the point that his own powers killed him.[58] Vladia pointed out that it was not her loss of control but her claws that did him in. She also told Grace that had she tried to kill Damien before she would have surely been killed herself and that Grace was squandering a gift that Vladia never had for senseless reasons.[59] Grace was reduced to tears by Vladia's rant but perked up when she heard and saw Dr. Sciuridae.[60]

He wished Grace happy birthday and agreed with Vladia's argument if not her delivery. He persuaded Grace to assume her half squirrel form by telling her there was nothing to gain by refusing to transform, that they wanted her to be happy and that since the half squirrel form was her birth form she should assume it at least once on her birthday. With that Grace was convinced and proceeded to assume her half squirrel form while they watched.[61] After Grace finished transforming she said she felt a little better and asked Dr. Sciuridae what he was doing there. He responded that he now worked and lived there. Hedge then asked about the relationship Mr. Verres mentioned she was in and Grace didn't want to tell them about Tedd.[62]

Grace then woke up Tedd and he was surprised to see her in her squirrel form. She told him that she was not yet totally bubbly but that the party would help with that.[63] Grace then assumed her Jeremy form as she pet Jeremy. Tedd reflected on Grace being back to her old self but then realized she was depending on the party to fully feel better and decided to make sure that the party went as well as possible for her sake.[64]

References[]

  1. This is likely while Tedd is at school and Tuesday is the first school day after Tedd learns about the party.
  2. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-11-09 ("The Most Emotionally Unbalanced Comic EVER")
  3. 3.0 3.1 EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-11-11 ("Drat! I Was Wondering Too!")
  4. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-11-13 ("And it has nothing to do With Character Balance or Convenient Plot, I Assure You")
  5. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-11-15 ("Surely Nothing Bad Can Come from This")
  6. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-11-17 ("I Love ThingsThat Logically Never Should Have Been Made Being Put to Good Use")
  7. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-12-01 ("Prelude to Both the Dreaded and the Anticipated (Which One May Vary Per Bunny)")
  8. Assuming chronological order; one later page takes place on the night between Monday and Tuesday.
  9. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-12-03 ("While it May Appeal to Some of You, We Can't Have Nanase under Lock and Key")
  10. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-12-06 ("See Part II of EGS:NP's 'Magic Comic Shop' to Learn More about Nanase's Book")
  11. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-12-08 ("Mooching Tease Pimp")
  12. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-12-13 ("But Rhoda's so Small...")
  13. EGS Main Story Comic for 2004-12-17 ("Noah the Distant")
  14. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-03 ("Love Masked in Shadow")
  15. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-05 ("Brief 'Second Life' Intermission / Young Ellen Likes Her Boys Weird-Looking")
  16. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-07 ("Can You Smell the Suspense? I Know I Can. *Sniff*")
  17. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-10 ("Tedd Finally Tells / If Looks Could Kill...")
  18. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-12 ("Holy Gingersnaps! Might the Party Not Happen Now?! Curse this Suspenseful Suspense!")
  19. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-14 ("Yay! I've been looking forward to this bizarre sequence for Months!")
  20. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-17 ("If this wasn't a Comic, This would be a Sign of Severe Schizophrenia")
  21. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-19 ("Logic and Curiosity Double Team")
  22. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-24 ("Given Grace's Views on Nudity, This could've been Worse")
  23. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-26 ("And it probable has, but Dude, it fit too well to pass up")
  24. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-01-28 ("Elliot's essentially summed up all of El Goonish Shive in one Sentence")
  25. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-07 ("Holy Cr--Oh, False Alarm, They're Everyday Students")
  26. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-09 ("Not Even THEY Know the Answers!")
  27. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-11 ("Why not a Girly Narcissist?")
  28. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-14 ("Silly Kitty Grace")
  29. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-16 ("Catts Make Good Props")
  30. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-18 ("Twisted Smile of the Mastermind")
  31. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-21 ("Fighting Nanase, Hiding Justin")
  32. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-23 ("Initial Reactions are Promising!")
  33. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-25 ("Suspension of Diasbelief #967 - Being Morphed by a Beam of Energy is Good for You")
  34. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-02-28 ("The Joke Leftover from Sister that got kicked up a Notch")
  35. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-02 ("Hot Drying-Off Action")
  36. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-04 ("But She's Already a Sleepy Little Ninja!")
  37. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-07 ("Guilt-Ridden Kitty")
  38. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-09 ("Sarah' Gonna be the Best Darn Boyfriend She can be!")
  39. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-16 ("Actually, it's Just Easier if I don't have to Draw Anyone Sitting Beside Them")
  40. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-18 ("...and into the Fire")
  41. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-21 ("Student Council Super Models")
  42. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-23 ("And Tedd is the Wisest of Them All--*THWACK* OW")
  43. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-25 ("He Walked Right into that One")
  44. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-28 ("Natural Cuddle / Hug Friends")
  45. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-03-30 ("Holy Skimpy Kitty! What Program are they Using?!")
  46. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-01 ("Passing the Buck to a Deer in Headlights")
  47. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-06 ("The Yarn Ball, the Alpha Quadrant... it's a Mural of Destruction")
  48. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-08 ("This isn't the First Time Tedd's Been Accused of This")
  49. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-13 ("Playah Ain't Playing While the Principal Desperately Searches for a Power Up")
  50. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-15 ("He Really Doesn't, if Want to Get Technical and Don't Count 'Q&A #2'")
  51. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-19
  52. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-21 ("Close Friends! ...Platonic Friends. Get Your Mind Out of the Gutter")
  53. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-23 ("Bright Sides and Dark Sides")
  54. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-25 ("For Your Viewing Pleasure, Sleepy Grace!")
  55. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-27 ("So I'm Bad at Drawing Hugs! Get Of my Back! Er, I Mean, Heartwarming Moment")
  56. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-04-29 ("No Good Can Come Out of this Newfound Knowledge")
  57. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-04 ("Panels m2 & 5 Shall Live in both Fame and Infamy")
  58. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-05 ("So Much for Vladia's 'No Violent Threats' Streak...")
  59. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-09 ("Vladia's Tough Love")
  60. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-11 ("Dr. Sciuridae Returns")
  61. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-13 ("The Return of the Squirrel")
  62. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-16 ("Squirrelly Grace, Hidden Tedd")
  63. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-18 ("Waking Up with a Squirrel in One's Face Would Normally be a Bad Thing")
  64. EGS Main Story Comic for 2005-05-20 ("Bubbly Mission of Bubbly Restoration")
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