Edward originally said "you, however" instead of "and you", which would have implied what Edward was saying didn't apply to Hope before the last panel. By the law of last panel twists, however, I had to make it slightly less obvious he was going to say "are not Pandora".

No choice, hands were tied.

In all seriousness, it is in character. People have accused The Will of Magic of having a flare for the dramatic, but don't underestimate Edward Verres over here.

Secret Identities

Acting as a muse to give writers the idea for keeping secret identities as super heroes would be well before Mr. Verres's time, and at this point, would require no encouragement to continue. It's simply a part of pop culture now, and there's no reason for them to get involved in anything like that if they don't have to.

Regardless, word of ME! is that, no, super hero secret identities weren't some planted idea to further hide magic. That would imply shifting credit for writing ideas away from real world writers, and I don't care for that being official canon.

The plan is ridiculous on its face anyway. Super heroes may be popular now, but their influence at the time when they were first published, or the influence of their inspirational predecessors, was not enough for it to be part of some worthwhile master plan.

It might be telling, and not in a flattering way, that Edward can't simply dismiss the idea out of hand.

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- Tuesday EGSNP

- Monday Sketchbook: Rigged Treasure