Ponytail

[kpenguin]

How long do you suppose we'll be seeing ponytail V?

[Zanaril]

Until Haley offers to do something with it?

[Optimystik]

Until Kyrie tells him how silly it looks.

Alternatively... he could just get a haircut. How was he grooming it in the earlier strips? Prestidigitation?

[Thanatosia]

I kinda like it, but its kind of an odd thing for him to just do with no real reason when he's been wearing his/her hair loose for all this time.

[Rinquist]

I kinda like it, but its kind of an odd thing for him to just do with no real reason when he's been wearing his/her hair loose for all this time.

V has worn a headband throughout the comic up until this point.

[oskeladden]

V has worn a headband throughout the comic up until this point.
Up until the soul splice, I think, and loose after then until now. Might there be any significance in the move from headband to ponytail?

[Poppy Appletree]

Up until the soul splice, I think, and loose after then until now. Might there be any significance in the move from headband to ponytail?

I'm pretty sure the headband is what V's hair has been tied back with. Wouldn't want to lose those bonus spells for a high Intelligence, after all. :smallwink: :smallbiggrin:

[Snake-Aes]

Up until the soul splice, I think, and loose after then until now. Might there be any significance in the move from headband to ponytail?

It started bothering her. You can't really notice it when you feel yourself overwhelmed by the sheer amount of magic power you hold.

[Cracklord]

Clearly this is a very clever social commentry the Giant has put in entertain us while informing us of the dangers of binge drinking.
Either that or it is a subtle reference to The movie "Gone with the wind."

[Dalenthas]

Maybe he's trying to be more like Kyrie?

[Hardcore]

It has with Vs character growth to do, and is also a simple but effective way for Rich to show this visually. Very subtle work.

[Kaytara]

Up until the soul splice, I think, and loose after then until now. Might there be any significance in the move from headband to ponytail?

Oh, V's appearance almost seems directly symbolic of his mental state at any given time during the arc.

Normal (tidy robes, headband, tidy hair): Calm, collected, snobbish, arrogant.
Normal disheveled (tears in robes, messy hair, shadows under the eyes, pale skin, veins showing, headband): Control over himself slipping, mind and sanity gradually coming apart at the seams, teetering on the edge.
Soul Splice (smooth, flawless, black robes in perfect condition, no headband, long and wild hair, fangs): embrace of dark tendencies, release of inhibitions, his personality at its worst, malicious, cold and insufferable.
Soul Splice with injuries: control of events and sanity slipping once again.
Post-Splice (torn red robes, long and wild hair, heavy injuries and bruises): feeling of helplessness, honesty about one's nature.
Ponytail: Humbled, shamed, putting the hair away is a gesture of trying to be more cautious and having more control of oneself.

Now, as for in-character reasons... V was just on a huge power roll during the Splice. Now that it's over and he's stuck with the hair, it makes sense that he'd put it away into a more practical hairstyle as soon as he can.

[theinsulabot]

while i have no idea if this is accurate, on another thread a poster mentioned that elven kind still in there apprentice stages traditionally tie there hair in pony tails, masters are the ones who are inclined to let it hang free or adopt more intricate styles, if thats true, v maybe subtly declaring that he realizes he has a long way to go before he is a master of magic

[Snake-Aes]

while i have no idea if this is accurate, on another thread a poster mentioned that elven kind still in there apprentice stages traditionally tie there hair in pony tails, masters are the ones who are inclined to let it hang free or adopt more intricate styles, if thats true, v maybe subtly declaring that he realizes he has a long way to go before he is a master of magic

Or, V's hair was getting in the way and she tied it.

[Kaytara]

Or, V's hair was getting in the way and she tied it.

Can't it be both? :smalltongue:

[Snake-Aes]

Can't it be both? :smalltongue:

Can't it be mundane because, you know, it's a mundane act?

[oskeladden]

Can't it be mundane because, you know, it's a mundane act?

A sudden change of a long-standing hairstyle isn't exactly a mundane act.

[dr.cello]

I don't know, I let my hair get pretty long, then cut it completely on a whim with no significance at all.

[oskeladden]

I don't know, I let my hair get pretty long, then cut it completely on a whim with no significance at all.

Point taken :smallsmile:

[R. Shackleford]

Well, two characters have gotten new looks, might as well keep going.

[Kaytara]

I don't know, I let my hair get pretty long, then cut it completely on a whim with no significance at all.

You're not a fictional character, are you? :)

Physical appearance is a great part of what makes a character who they are, it makes them iconic.

I mean, imagine if Harry Potter suddenly started wearing rectangular glasses instead of round ones. Imagine the fury.

[Snake-Aes]

A sudden change of a long-standing hairstyle isn't exactly a mundane act.

It is when the last half hour involved unfastening it.

[Cleverdan22]

You know, sometimes a ponytail is just a ponytail. To quote the Giant, "Not everything has a hidden meaning."

[Morgan Wick]

Until Kyrie tells him how silly it looks.

Will V ever see Kyrie again?

[Dalenthas]

Will V ever see Kyrie again?

Law of storytelling inertia says yes. Plus, they're on their way to the Western Continent, where lies the elven homelands, so...

[Lauren]

I quite like the ponytail look on V. It's a nice change, and a good reminder of everything xe has been through, rtaher than going straight back to xir old look.

[Pulsecode]

My first thought was that it matches V's mate's hair, which I thought was a nice touch.

[mockingbyrd7]

V usually has impeccably groomed hair, framed by the headband. The long, flowing, untamed hair is getting in the way now, but V doesn't have time to groom and straighten it and everything, so V puts it in a ponytail.

[Jayabalard]

I don't know, I let my hair get pretty long, then cut it completely on a whim with no significance at all.you probably aren't a character in a stickfigure webcomic.

[infiniteviking]

Until Kyrie tells him how silly it looks.

I hope Kyrie gets that chance. */emo*

I'm agreeing with Kaytara here; V was wearing the headband until the splice, and afterwards he was (a) too all-powerful-and-busy to deal with it, and then (b) trying to stay alive long enough to escape from Xykon. Durkon's removal of the paralysis was his first chance to do anything about it when other stuff wasn't a far higher priority.


A sudden change of a long-standing hairstyle isn't exactly a mundane act.

True, but he didn't change it on purpose. The splice changed it and then it didn't change back afterwards.

I suppose it depends on whether he feels the ponytail is adequate, or will spend more time fixing his look when he gets the chance. It might also be worth noting that long hair is harder to maintain than short hair -- you have to keep tying it up and it tangles much more easily. Some people have shorter hair simply to avoid having to deal with that every day.

[LuisDantas]

I kinda like it, but its kind of an odd thing for him to just do with no real reason when he's been wearing his/her hair loose for all this time.

I dislike ponytails in general. But here, there are a couple of possible reasons.

- Emphasizing the links to Kyrie.
- Showing how more rugged and unkept V is at this point.

[Waggy]

Maybe becuase V didn't have time to sort his/her hair out or didn't prepare a predignation spell? Because Durkon's shield is a shoddy mirror?

EDIT: I reckon its permenant though, just that the reasons are more mundane than anything.

[Meg]

Having had long hair for a long time, I will tell you it's a pain in the rear. I simply assumed V is getting it out of her face. Which leads to the age-old conflict: It looks better down, but it's a hassle to wear it like that.

[averagejoe]

1) It provides narrative distance from earlier events. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0647.html)

2) V wasn't taking care of herself before (while on the boat.) She's taking care of herself now.

[Hardcore]

while i have no idea if this is accurate, on another thread a poster mentioned that elven kind still in there apprentice stages traditionally tie there hair in pony tails, masters are the ones who are inclined to let it hang free or adopt more intricate styles, if thats true, v maybe subtly declaring that he realizes he has a long way to go before he is a master of magic

The above points to something I think, IIRC Rich, said; that one of the characters will have a permanent change to his appearance. If V think of herself as master no more then she will wear ponytail from now on.

[Moonshadow]

I actually find the ponytail quite attractive o_o more so than her normal hair, anyways.

[archon_huskie]

Is V using the headband to tie it back?

[Roc Ness]

Wait. Haley had a ponytail

Does this mean she's gonna look like what V used to be now? :smallconfused:

[Shatteredtower]

I don't like ponytail on V,
It is not right,
It should not be.

I'd like it less upon Xykon,
Absent of scalp,
That would be wrong.

Nor would I like it on Redcloak,
Not as a lark,
Or as a joke.

I don't like ponytail on V,
It is not right,
It should not be.

[MickJay]

It's funny how the headband turned out to be not metal (cloth, probably?). Are there any rules on headbands of intellect about what they are supposed to be made of? The headband could never have been magical in the first place, which could give some extra information on V's own capabilities.

My guess is the ponytail will stay, nothing prevented V from putting the headband on like before, but for some reason he decided to change the hairstyle (and the change is quite prominent).

[Random832]

"This device is a light cord with a small gem set so that it rests upon the forehead of the wearer." - I didn't see a gem even when whatever V has _was_ worn as a headband. Where is it stated to be a headband of intellect?

[moondog]

Until Haley offers to do something with it?

i think celia would be the first to offer hair styling tips long before haley...

also, does it ever occur to anyone that the ponytail look is *yet another* gender-bender device from the giant? i mean, anyone with long hair can wear it in a ponytail after all...

[Kish]

Maybe Vaarsuvius tied his/her hair back in a ponytail instead of putting the headband back on because the headband is still lying on the island where s/he left it.

[hamishspence]

Comic doesn't show it on the floor next to the fiends, but its possible.

[Zanaril]

Comic doesn't show it on the floor next to the fiends, but its possible.

It's a different island anyway.

[hamishspence]

No, V had headband right up to the Splice. in next strip, we see fiends talking to V, and no headband is visible anywhere.

[CletusMusashi]

V's hair was all over the place during the soul splice. Tying it back was a lot quicker than washing, drying, and combing it would have been. Mabe it'll stay that way now, but quick convenience was the main reason. And if it does stay, it might not really mean anything deeper than the fact that V has bigger worries right now than hairstyle.

[Arachu]

What, I'm the only one who thinks the ponytail looks good? :smallconfused:


Anyway, it seems more like it was done just to get it out of his face, considering how calmly he did it.

[EmeraldPhoenix]

:elan:Apperance changes after a period of time has passed are a great way to provide narritive distance from earlier events. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0647.html)

Also, I think the thing she was using to put her hair in a ponytail was the yellow headband.

[xelliea]

What, I'm the only one who thinks the ponytail looks good? :smallconfused:


Anyway, it seems more like it was done just to get it out of his face, considering how calmly he did it.

I like it alot too.

[MickJay]

"This device is a light cord with a small gem set so that it rests upon the forehead of the wearer." - I didn't see a gem even when whatever V has _was_ worn as a headband. Where is it stated to be a headband of intellect?

Thanks. It wasn't stated anywhere, but it was a popular theory made by more crunch inclined forumers (mostly for the purpose of determining V's level, bonus to intelligence from an item would allow for extra spell slots, which, if V doesn't have that bonus, would have to be gained with extra level[s]).

[The Pilgrim]

To quote the Giant, "Not everything has a hidden meaning."

But that had a hidden meaning!

[Bibliomancer]

But that had a hidden meaning!

Exactly. Observe:

"Not everything has a hidden meaning."
N E H A H M

HEN HAM


Thus, this statement was a thinly veiled reference to the age old debate between pork and chicken as the primary meat for the elven diet when greeting humans. Furthermore, ... [statement ended. Sarcasm limit exceeded.]

Did that actually have a hidden meaning when originally posted?

[HZ514]

I took it as tangible character development. Having the same hairstyle as Kyrie is an added benefit.

[Cleverdan22]

What I think is interesting is that this is a discussion about this being a drastic appearance change from what it was for the first 600+ strips. But it isn't. It's a drastic appearance change compared to V's hair in the from the last 32 strips. V's hair already changed due to Pure Molten Evil (Or neutral as the case may be), and now he's just putting it away into a manageable state. Sure it gives a good set of distance from old V, but significance past that is little to none.