A common e-mail topic I've recieved lately is people telling me I need to get to the party. In case this article is being read at a later date, the party being referred to is Grace's 18th birthday party, and this article is being written on March 25, 2005. The party itself has been discussed in the comic for a few months at this point.

First off, I'd like to say that I'm flattered that people are eager for me to get to the party, as it means they're looking forward to it, which means I must be doing SOMETHING right. Granted, I'm getting the impression that a lot of the readers are less interested in the story for the party and more interested in the visuals it promises, but I'll take my flattery where I can get it.

I have several philosophies for my stories that has been evolving for a while now and are partially inspired by commentary from creators of other forms of entertainment media. One story in particular that I wish I'd had these philosophies for was Lady Mysterious. It started out ok, but towards the end it sort of fizzled and degenerated into the photo shoot sequence. The photo shoot sequence itself was actually ok, but there should have been more development between Grace and Ellen leading up to it. The point of the story was to bring Ellen and Grace together as friends, and the development of their friendship could have been handled better. Had I been more organized in my focus, I could have accomplished that desired effect.

The fact of the matter is that just jumping to the party itself would render it pointless. It would be reduced to gratuitous transformation and dress up. That may be what some readers want, but that's not what I'm going to give them. The party is made substantial by the characters. Their approach to the party, how they respond to the party itself, what they take away from it... these are the things that make the party worthwhile from a story standpoint.

In addition to the character development, there are many other things that are lost by just jumping to the party. That entire sequence at the dojo, unless what I've read at the forums betray me, was one many people enjoyed. I could have skipped that entire sequence. I could have done one comic with Elliot recruiting them. In fact, I could've just had a brief one-panel flashback of Elliot convincing them. Instead, we got a sequence of comics where we're led to ponder Nanase's motivations (not that they're hard to guess), Justin's standpoint on the whole issue is made clear, Elliot's compromise for long hair is given (along with the expression "hair whore"), the demonic duck returned (sorta), and Greg FINALLY got to drench Elliot with water (a gag that got cut from "Sister").

Am I assuming that everyone loved the return to the martial arts dojo? No. Am I defending the value of the sequence itself from a personal and story standpoint? Yes. I consider it a good and valuable sequence. I also consider everything with the school uniforms to be valuable. Not only does Elliot's outfit for the party now have a backstory to it, but this uniform situation isn't just going away after the party. Susan's going to be in a position where she'll have to fight the system to stand up for her beliefs after the party, and everyone else at North will have to deal with the situation as well. This also means there'll be activity at both Moperville South and North the week after the party, allowing the cast to truly remain an ensemble as opposed to everything shifting to South.

I consider the characters to be the focus of the story, not the party or the transformation. I don't want to have a story that's just transformation for the sake of transformation. I come close to breaking that rule in EGS:NP and I do break it in Fillers, but I won't in the main story. This is a story about the characters, and that's where the focus will be. If that means it will take a while to get to the party, then it will take a while to get to the party, and I'd like to think that the comics we get as a result of this are worthwhile and fun.

In conclusion, here are avatars inspired by background #21:

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