Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson for March 21, 2013

The good ol’ Shield of Boringness.

Is it bad that I’m hoping they’ll emerge from a certain couch?

No, they’ll come out of a wardrobe…

Pay no attention to the unicorn behind that curtain

I think the curtain was one of Piers Anthony’s plot devices, though it wasn’t quite that literal (Phaze/Proton). The alternate universe need not be an evil twin, just different in one or more fundamental ways. It would be interesting if it led to the Oz and Millie reality, but that was a technological demension like this one and not a magical one.

Because the shield got bored and wasn’t doing it’s job.

Of course a magical version of Phoebe could pass into this universe riding a mundane white horse as the mundane Phoebe and the magical unicorn enter the other universe. That could lead to even more fun.

Marigold probably has not told Phoebe about the white horse she swaps places with every time she comes to visit.

Carried over from yesterday – - – - – - Re: Kim Possible – if you’re interested (and if others are, too), check this out:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/164/600/385/bring-kim-possible-back-to-disney-channel/Offical petition to bring back Kim Possible.Sign it if you want it!

It amazes me (it shouldn’t) how many Sci Fi fans read comics.

So good!

templo SUD – : ) There are days when I wish I had a Shield of Boringness…

And my first thought was Oz, too – but I like Kali’s wardrobe thought the best. (And a lamppost, with a satyr, who’s actually hosting this birthday party… But no evil witches, please)

While I’m relatively new to reading this strip, I’d say it was because Phoebe isn’t boring. :)

If you want a great novel about alternate universes, try Robert Heinlein’s “The Number of the Beast”.

I see.

Because Marigold had just been hit in the head with a rock!

I hope we get to see the candy dragon again, I liked him

The “Shield of Boringness” seems to be as effective as Slartibatfast’s “SEP Field”..Anything inside the field becomes “Somebody Else’s Problem”. Therefore no one pays any attention to it and it effectively becomes invisible.

Humans need curtains too. It’s amazing how much office paranoia was diffused just by setting up cube walls. Then the claustrophobia set in..But you still had some measure of privacy.

I love that the Sheild of Boringness was coupled with a very plain curtain. You would have thought mythical beasts would have had a little more style. LOL

Also seems people have different resistance levels to magic..Enjoyed the age spell strengthening/weakening in Miyazaki Howl’s moving castle. It all depended on how much Sophie wanted to hide.

Marigold was entranced by her own reflection in a pool of water. She probably had let the shield relax due to inattentiveness. Or was so shocked when Phoebe hit her with the rock that broke the trance she let it drop momentarily.

I wonder if the Shield of Boringness is related to the SEP (“Someone Else’s Problem”) technology in the Hitchhiker’s Guide universe…

Totally unrelated is the “fourth wall”, which is, too right there in front of them the whole time.

There’s also the Tarnhelm Effect in the Lord Darcy universe, the quasi-invisilibility of the Leaky Cauldron, and, something akin, little Bruno’s explanation of why humans never step on fairies:’"Ca’n’t tread on us," said Bruno, looking amused at my ignorance. “Why, suppose oo’re walking, here—so—” (making little marks on the ground) “and suppose there’s a Fairy—that’s me—walking here. Very well then, oo put one foot here, and one foot here, so oo doosn’t tread on the Fairy.”’

That must be the Curtain of Camouflage !

No, it’s a Curtain of Crossing. But the Shield of Boringness has been placed upon it.