Where is this "Minnesota"?

[pendell]

How come, when Miko was asked about Japan, her response was "What is this 'Japan' of which you speak'? Yet it's clear that Haley knows what Minnesota is, based on strip 744 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0744.html). Come to think of it, Roy must have known where Japan was, to even have asked the question of Miko.

What is the relationship of OOTS to Earth, I wonder? Because as presented the comic seems wildly schizophrenic on that point. Perhaps Minnesota and Japan are myths to the people of OOTS, the way Camelot and Middle-Earth are here? A place known of by legend, but isn't actually accessible by real-world people?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Niveus Candidus]

How come, when Miko was asked about Japan, her response was "What is this 'Japan' of which you speak'? Yet it's clear that Haley knows what Minnesota is, based on strip 744 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0744.html). Come to think of it, Roy must have known where Japan was, to even have asked the question of Miko.

What is the relationship of OOTS to Earth, I wonder? Because as presented the comic seems wildly schizophrenic on that point. Perhaps Minnesota and Japan are myths to the people of OOTS, the way Camelot and Middle-Earth are here? A place known of by legend, but isn't actually accessible by real-world people?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

They're PCs.

[Ancalagon]

Those are different jokes and not related. It's, imo, simple as that.

[Cybertoy00]

BECAUSE ITS FUNNY! HAW! HAW! HAW!
...
Excuse me, I just had a humorgasm.

[Ancalagon]

Excuse me, I just had a humorgasm.

You do not have to feel bad... that has happend to many cool guys and it does not make them any less cool or manly... :smalltongue:

[Meg]

Man, if Minnesota is a mythical land within the OOTS-verse, then I'm some sort of extra-planar mystical creature.

And in answer to the question, Haley's drunk.

[Bedinsis]

I think of Oots as a game session. Roy's direct question to Miko was character interaction between Roy's player and the game master, and the game master, not wanting to seem foolish around the name order mix-up, let Miko answer in a way to let Roy's player know that "it's fantasy, not Earth, you know."

The Minnesota reference, on the other hand, is Haley's player acting in character, so the game master don't want to break his/her flow when it would bring nothing but groans to the game session.

That's my interpretation.

[Nilan8888]

What is the relationship of OOTS to Earth, I wonder?

My guess would be that it does not exist until such point that a reference to Earth would be funny. At which point it totally exists right next door. And then by the next subsequent comic, it no longer exists.

It's like comedic doublethink!

[Zevox]

They're called fourth wall-breaking jokes. They're quite common in this comic. How is it you haven't noticed that before now?


I think of Oots as a game session.
You are wrong (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0606.html) (sixth panel).

Zevox

[ThePhantasm]

I think of Oots as a game session.

I think Rich has stated before that the OOTS world simply operates by game rules, but isn't in fact a game itself with players and a dungeon master.

[KenderWizard]

You are wrong (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0606.html) (sixth panel).

Zevox

It's not supposed to be a literal campaign, but maybe one of the laws of gaming which the world follows is that sometimes PCs make references to places and things that only other PCs "get", thereby mimicking the effect of players occasionally breaking character by referencing real world things, or something along those lines.

I think the random occasional reference to a real-world thing like Japan or Minnesota makes the world seem more like a D&D game world, as opposed to just a generic fantasy world where the characters don't make slip-ups.

[pendell]

I think of Oots as a game session. Roy's direct question to Miko was character interaction between Roy's player and the game master, and the game master, not wanting to seem foolish around the name order mix-up, let Miko answer in a way to let Roy's player know that "it's fantasy, not Earth, you know."

The Minnesota reference, on the other hand, is Haley's player acting in character, so the game master don't want to break his/her flow when it would bring nothing but groans to the game session.

That's my interpretation.

Rich has repeatedly stated that the OOTS is a game world -- there are no "players" as there are in , say, Knights of the Dinner Table.

I'm sure it was a joke, but a joke has to work even in context. Pratchett's work is nothing but parody, but he doesn't slip in references to Manchester United in the mouths of characters because it breaks suspension of disbelief; just because it's a parody, a joke, doesn't mean you can ignore the laws of the fictional universe without breaking suspension of disbelief.

I don't think it's precisely a fourth wall thing, either. I mean, yes, they know they're in a comic strip, but Haley's not addressing the audience -- she's addressing another character in the comic. Turning to the audience and making a reference to Minnesota would be one thing -- turning to an NPC and making a reference should evince a puzzled 'huh?'


Thanks for the thoughts, though.

Hmm ... is it possible that the characters KNOW that their world is a comic strip? They know that OOTS is a work of fiction in a place called "Earth", and they know quite a bit about earth?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Ancalagon]

There were several references they know they are in a comic.

But how does it make sense it's a real world and also a comic, you ask?
I have the answer: It makes no sense. None, zero, nada.

Stop thinking about this, it's not going to make logical or any other sense. It's a joke Haley can steal the diamond from herself in the cast page of this webcomic.
No matter how you twist and see and turn it... some things simply make no sense and are also not supposed to make any sense.

Some people seem to find the thought there are things that have no inherent sense and simply cannot be explained in any meaningful way outright scary and are not able to accept that as fact and truth. Quite many discussions here are basically proof of that.

Why can Roy reference Belkar as "he would become another recurring villain, just what this comic needs" and on the other hand know the world they live in is real, not part of a comic or a gaming session? Answer: He can't. He still does it, but if you apply reason, logic, explaination and whatnot, he simply can't.
Either accept that or be ready for another 20 page discussion where no satisfying conclusion is getting reached. One cannot find what does not exist.

[pendell]

There were several references they know they are in a comic.

But how does it make sense it's a real world and also a comic, you ask?
I have the answer: It makes no sense. None, zero, nada.

Stop thinking about this, it's not going to make logical or any other sense. It's a joke Haley can steal the diamond from herself in the cast page of this webcomic.
No matter how you twist and see and turn it... some things simply make no sense and are also not supposed to make any sense.

Some people seem to find the thought there are things that have no inherent sense and simply cannot be explained in any meaningful way outright scary and are not able to accept that as fact and truth. Quite many discussions here are basically proof of that.

Why can Roy reference Belkar as "he would become another recurring villain, just what this comic needs" and on the other hand know the world they live in is real, not part of a comic or a gaming session? Answer: He can't. He still does it, but if you apply reason, logic, explaination and whatnot, he simply can't.
Either accept that or be ready for another 20 page discussion where no satisfying conclusion is getting reached. One cannot find what does not exist.

To each their own. I enjoy most a world that is consistent with its own rules -- however illogical they are -- and Rich has shown a capacity to surprise me pleasantly. And I enjoy lampshading -- the practice of looking at things in the comic and from that trying to deduce a pattern that explains it all. I enjoy logic puzzles and looking for logical answers, even if the author was not intentionally writing for such a thing.

If you enjoy OOTS in a different way, that's not a problem for me. The fact that you enjoy without needing to think about it isn't going to make the comic any less awesome for people like me who DO over-think things. I'm sure Redcloak would understand.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Kish]

Hmm ... is it possible that the characters KNOW that their world is a comic strip?

Usually. Remember when Haley stole a big-ass diamond from herself on the cast page?

The Discworld books, for all their humor, maintain a fourth wall as strong as anything by Tolkien or any other author.

[pendell]

That explains it. The characters know they are in a comic strip, and they know what Minnesota and Japan are. Miko may have just been being the usually overly-strict Paladin on insisting she didn't know such things. Or it's possible that the mental prison she lived in, where unpleasant truths are filtered out until they are sufficiently twisted to fit her worldview, also filtered out the fact that the world is a comic strip, and there is a place called Japan.

Miko a blind fanatic who cannot accept any idea that doesn't fit her preconceived notions? Now, that couldn't possibly have any basis in the comic, could it?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Kobold-Bard]

I have a theory that Minnesota is one of a few rare things that trancend the barriers of media and exist universally in all of them.

My "evidence" for this is that Minnesota is also mentioned in the first Pokemon movie and...well that's about it. But I'll be damned if you can show me proof of some film/tv show/book etc. where Minnesota DEFINITELY doesn't exist :smallwink:

[zql]

What is the relationship of OOTS to Earth, I wonder?

The guy that writes their lines and (at least most of) the people who reads the comic lives in that planet.

[Tulio d Bard]

The guy that writes their lines and (at least most of) the people who reads the comic lives in that planet.

Good point here. Maybe it's just part of the "translation". You wouldn't understand the joke if Haley's talking about some knight team.

[Orzel]

Minnesota is a small nation south of the Dwarven lands, near the water. Their main exports are gold ore and purple dye made from the native sea snails. Known for their chaotic and barbaric past, the people of Minnesota now worship Thor and are at peace with nearby humans and dwarves (who pretty much forgot they existed). Little else is known about them due to their strong run defense.

[wybrand]

Is Earth than maybe the plantet Blackwing saw in the gap?

[Kish]

Is Earth than maybe the plantet Blackwing saw in the gap?
No, Rich has confirmed (Don't Split the Party commentary) that that planet is not our world.

[Dr.Epic]

Minnesota is south of Nilbog.

[B.I.T.T.]

It's entirely possible that you're overthinking it.:smallamused:

[Urist McDwarf]

It is in the middle of Nowhere, just north of Anywhere, and Southwest of Someplace Else.

[Acero]

I GOT IT!

The world Blackwing saw is OUR WORLD!

:D

[Steward]

I enjoy logic puzzles and looking for logical answers, even if the author was not intentionally writing for such a thing.

To that end, I think it's important to note that little things like "Japan", "Minnesota", and Haley stealing a diamond from the character page are generally little side jokes that can be appreciated without having to fit them into the main narrative (not that there's anything wrong with doing that). You'll never see things like that actually affecting the plot; when the characters were battling at Azure City, you didn't see Roy grabbing the version of him from the character page for a tagteam or Miko escaping from Redcloak by leaving the strip.

[Dr.Epic]

I GOT IT!

The world Blackwing saw is OUR WORLD!

:D

Didn't the giant say somewhere that it is NOT our world.

[Detrinex]

How hard is it to believe that it's just a 4th wall breaking?

[Dr.Epic]

How hard is it to believe that it's just a 4th wall breaking?

OotS never does this.:smallbiggrin:

[Gift Jeraff]

The way I see it, trying to understand the OOTS world would be like trying to understand what's going through some Lovecraftian horror's mind. It's alien to us. Incomprehensible.

Alternatively, "Earth" is some fictional setting for them, no different than the way Middle-Earth, Eberron, Narnia, or the OOTSiverse is to us.


Didn't the giant say somewhere that it is NOT our world.
Yes. Look above your previous post. :smallwink:

[Capt Spanner]

Maybe "Minnesota" is in the OotS World as an irregularly published 3D comic strip, about people who work behind desks from 9am to 5pm.

[Dancing_Fox]

I assume that, in the real world, Minnesota has something to do with American football.

And that is all that I need to know to get the attempted joke.

Other than that, I could not tell you what or where it is. I assume that it is in America. But whether it is famous as a state or a city or as a university football team, I couldn't tell you. And further I have little interest in finding out more about it.

Not unless someone told me that a great scientific discover or something more newsworthy came out of Minnesota recently.

In game, it could be just a town with that name. No big deal.

[thalandus]

When it's funnier for a PC not to understand real world references, they don't. When it's funnier for a PC to understand real world references, they do.

[Connington]

The characters make reference to musicals (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0397.html) from the 1940s and discuss how Cliffport's whole aesthetic is anachronistic in a pseudo-medieval "setting". I think we're a little beyond getting hung up on references to American states.

And Dancing Fox, the original Mayo Clinic is located in Minnesota. Good enough for you?

[Changeling Soul]

You are wrong (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0606.html)


You are wrong Leonidas! YOU ARE WRONG!

[Ancalagon]

If you enjoy OOTS in a different way, that's not a problem for me. The fact that you enjoy without needing to think about it isn't going to make the comic any less awesome for people like me who DO over-think things.

No, you are wrong, I think. I like OotS for it's internal logic which is usually has. But Rich does simply break the 4th wall sometimes and does throw in jokes all the time that simply make no sense.

I like to think about the cases where it does fit and I also like a consistent world. But OotS simply has jokes and scenes where there's no internal logic.
All I say is that I think you should not try to find it because it's not there.

That does NOT mean we cannot discuss about other things - everything that happens within the comic apart from 4th-wall-breaking does have a logic and needs it. But as I see it, OotS has a part that's breaking the 4th wall for the sake of a joke (often good, btw) - but that is also all that is to it.

Where do the rulebooks come from certain characters use? You either have to assume our world has a leak somehow and even then, how do the characters obtain them or how does shipping from "Ebay to Xykon" (SoD) work?
Rich seems to use the 4th wall for two different things: A) To make a plain and simple joke and B) to give some plot-device out just because the characters now reach a plotpoint. Somehow. Of course he can give a good in-comic explanation for how Haley gets the diamond but as they now get it anyway, he just throws it in with a 4th wall joke.

Of course you can spend 20 pages of this thread looking for a logic, that is perfectly fine. I just think, on the first page, there's nothing to be found so you could spare yourself the extended looking.

[NerfTW]

I assume that, in the real world, Minnesota has something to do with American football.

And that is all that I need to know to get the attempted joke.

Other than that, I could not tell you what or where it is. I assume that it is in America. But whether it is famous as a state or a city or as a university football team, I couldn't tell you. And further I have little interest in finding out more about it.

Not unless someone told me that a great scientific discover or something more newsworthy came out of Minnesota recently.

In game, it could be just a town with that name. No big deal.


Strange, I feel the same way about Sydney Australia. :smallsigh:

Your comments are a little insulting to the state of Minnesota, don't you think? You could have just said "I didn't get the joke" without the whole passive aggressive "Minnesota is beneath my notice" rant. Nobody expects anyone to know cultural details about places on the opposite side of the planet from them, but I can bet you'd be pretty peeved if someone made a similar comment about Australia.

[Urist McDwarf]

Strange, I feel the same way about Sydney Australia. :smallsigh:

Your comments are a little insulting to the state of Minnesota, don't you think? You could have just said "I didn't get the joke" without the whole passive aggressive "Minnesota is beneath my notice" rant. Nobody expects anyone to know cultural details about places on the opposite side of the planet from them, but I can bet you'd be pretty peeved if someone made a similar comment about Australia.

Yeah! Dont make fun of the inferior state! Not their fault they arn't as awesome as Missouri! :smalltongue:

[malloyd]

I assume that, in the real world, Minnesota has something to do with American football.

And that is all that I need to know to get the attempted joke.
.

The joke is slightly enhanced if you happen to know Minnesota is probably the US state with the largest percentage of people whose ancestors actually came from Norway or Sweden.

Oh, and one of the Minnesota football teams is actually called the Vikings, and has a blond guy with a horned helmet as a logo.

[Hardcore]

Tnx, I didn't think of that, but I should have ( I am from Sweden:)).

[rewinn]

No, you are wrong, I think. I like OotS for it's internal logic which is usually has. But Rich does simply break the 4th wall sometimes and does throw in jokes all the time that simply make no sense.

Which makes OOTS Neutral Good: a mixture of logic and chaos!

[The MunchKING]

She's telling a myth, thus to them Minnesota could just be a Mythical place, like camelot or Valhalla.

[Bongos]

Oots is a fictional comic where many of the characters know it is a fictional comic. Some characters in this comic also know that the comic exists in the real world, the world of the readers.

In this way Oots it shares many similarities with Minnesota.

[Nimrod's Son]

Where is Minnesota? Why, it's on the same continent as Toronto (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0567.html) and Arizona (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0640.html).

Japan, though? Never heard of it. :smallwink:

[veti]

How hard is it to believe that it's just a 4th wall breaking?

You say that like it's supposed to explain something...

[Zevox]

You say that like it's supposed to explain something...
Because it is the explanation. Breaking of the fourth wall is so common in this comic that it has been lampshaded several times, including in both prequel books, and has even literally been used to have one of the characters to climb outside the comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0649.html). They're common occurrences, and they're nothing more than jokes. They need no further explanation than that.

Zevox

[Nimrod's Son]

You say that like it's supposed to explain something...
It explains the fact that OotS breaks the fourth wall all the time, and not everything makes sense from an in-universe point of view.

Unless of course Vin Diesel is a real character in OotS-land, and he makes something called "movies" there...

[Dancing_Fox]

And Dancing Fox, the original Mayo Clinic is located in Minnesota. Good enough for you?

Yep, good enough!

Although you did drive me to Wikipedia, so I went from not knowing about a football team, to not knowing about a clinic (But that's something that may be worth checking out, so here goes . . .)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayo_Clinic

Now I know more:
"Mayo Clinic specializes in hard-to-treat diseases, and is known for innovative and effective treatments "

Which sounds worthy.


You could have just said "I didn't get the joke" without the whole passive aggressive "Minnesota is beneath my notice" rant.

It was more a "The details of American football teams are outside my purview" stance.

But whatever. Now I've probably upset some American football fan.


The joke is slightly enhanced if you happen to know Minnesota is probably the US state with the largest percentage of people whose ancestors actually came from Norway or Sweden.

Oh, and one of the Minnesota football teams is actually called the Vikings, and has a blond guy with a horned helmet as a logo.

Now THAT is an entry that usefully expands on the topic.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled comic plot discussion . . .

[faustin]

Actually, Hinjo (NPC) also break the 4th dimension in strip 473 when he makes a reference to Zany comedy .

[Meg]

http://www.dailycomedy.com/images/jokes/b/MinnesotaVikings.jpg


That's the Minnesota Vikings logo. [/helpful]

[pendell]

Okay, so how DID Thor wind up on the helmets?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[dps]

How come, when Miko was asked about Japan, her response was "What is this 'Japan' of which you speak'? Yet it's clear that Haley knows what Minnesota is, based on strip 744 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0744.html). Come to think of it, Roy must have known where Japan was, to even have asked the question of Miko.

What is the relationship of OOTS to Earth, I wonder? Because as presented the comic seems wildly schizophrenic on that point. Perhaps Minnesota and Japan are myths to the people of OOTS, the way Camelot and Middle-Earth are here? A place known of by legend, but isn't actually accessible by real-world people?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Who says that in OOTSworld, "Minnesota" is a place? it could be a person, an organization, or something else.

[Asthix]

Man, if Minnesota is a mythical land within the OOTS-verse, then I'm some sort of extra-planar mystical creature.

And in answer to the question, Haley's drunk.

Woo! Me too! (Maybe its both, maybe its neither?) (Its both.)


I have a theory that Minnesota is one of a few rare things that trancend the barriers of media and exist universally in all of them.

My "evidence" for this is that Minnesota is also mentioned in the first Pokemon movie and...well that's about it. But I'll be damned if you can show me proof of some film/tv show/book etc. where Minnesota DEFINITELY doesn't exist :smallwink:

Minnesota was left out of the final, final, this time its really final version of Earth in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (This is a lie.)


And further I have little interest in finding out more about it.

Not unless someone told me that a great scientific discover or something more newsworthy came out of Minnesota recently.

Your opera house looks funny.

Also bundt cake. Minnesotans invented bundt cake. Mark your calendars, November 15th is National Bundt pan day in the US!:thog:(and Minneapolis is IN Minnesota)

[DeltaEmil]

Not every asian-themed setting with samurais and ninjas is automatically Japan, which was the whole joke. Also, seeing as how Miko is the overtly law-abidding type, if you really need to explain (and ruin a perfectly fine) joke, just see her being "in-character" and "subtly hinting that " that the Oots-world is not Earth, and that the Order should be "in-character".

[Meg]

Also bundt cake. Minnesotans invented bundt cake. Mark your calendars, November 15th is National Bundt pan day in the US!:thog:(and Minneapolis is IN Minnesota)

Minnesota is also the home of SPAM, without which, there would be one less Monty Python sketch. Needless to say, it's pretty much the cultural center of the entire universe.

[Swordpriest]

I do believe that the real-world references are pretty much throwaway jokes intended to make the readers chuckle. I don't think there's any deep meaning to them, and I don't think that they have any significance to the OotS world other than that it makes the joke funny because the characters are referring to them. If someone in real life says "why can't I be hallucinating about Jessica Biel in a hot tub" it's not very funny; but if Belkar says it, it is, because it's incongruous coming from Belkar, so it adds more humor to the situation.

In short, it's supposed to be silly and amusing. It is not in any way plot significant.

[veti]

Because it is the explanation. Breaking of the fourth wall is so common in this comic that it has been lampshaded several times, including in both prequel books, and has even literally been used to have one of the characters to climb outside the comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0649.html). They're common occurrences, and they're nothing more than jokes. They need no further explanation than that.

Saying that a particular utterance by a particular character "breaks the fourth wall" doesn't actually explain it. It's like saying "because it's funny", or "because the plot demands it" - it's just shorthand for "I can't figure out an explanation that makes sense, so I'm attaching this label to justify not doing so".

And that may be quite enough explanation for you. But please accept that other people might like to think about explanations that they find more complete or coherent or satisfying. It's a big enough message board - surely there's room for us all to discuss what interests us?

[Swordpriest]

Saying that a particular utterance by a particular character "breaks the fourth wall" doesn't actually explain it. It's like saying "because it's funny", or "because the plot demands it" - it's just shorthand for "I can't figure out an explanation that makes sense, so I'm attaching this label to justify not doing so".

And that may be quite enough explanation for you. But please accept that other people might like to think about explanations that they find more complete or coherent or satisfying. It's a big enough message board - surely there's room for us all to discuss what interests us?\

Well, since "discussion" clearly means agreeing with everything you say, and since anyone who says "well, maybe the joke is just a joke" is some kind of ignoramus "justifying their ignorance" with "labels" because they "can't figure out an explanation that makes sense," then I'm through with this "discussion" entirely, because I DON'T agree with what you think, but since to you, "discussing" = kowtowing to your opinion, there's no point in participating in such a pointless process.

I mean, saying something along the lines of "people tell a joke because it's funny" isn't an explanation that makes sense? :smallmad:

Going to be trying out the 'ignore' function in a minute here, methinks.

[pendell]

I mean, saying something along the lines of "people tell a joke because it's funny" isn't an explanation that makes sense?


Different people have different senses of humor. I personally don't find such things funny because my internal logic throws a consistency exception. The potential humor of the joke is spoiled by the fact that it doesn't fit at all.

Imagine this: The party is walking along. Suddenly a great big care bear walks out of nowhere, hits belkar with a custard pie, then walks off.

Is your reaction "haha! Funny!" or "WTF?"

Now, the Giant has never done it that badly, but as hard as he tries, he's not going to make every person here laugh at every joke he makes. And I know he tries hard. I suspect that's the single hardest thing about making these strips , putting a joke line into each strip that most people will laugh at.

Full disclosure: I only laugh at about 50-70% of the Giant's jokes. Of those, most only rate a chuckle while a very few make me laugh out loud. For me , the high points were when Celia colored in their eyes for Xs, or when Belkar disguised himself as Lord Shojo to snap the paladin out of his trance. I like physical comedy. But this'd be a miserable strip if it was one pratfall after another.

It's just the way I am. What I enjoy most in life is looking at apparently unrelated things and seeing if I can find a pattern that explains how it all works, then test that pattern by experiment and see if it works. If it doesn't, discard the results and try again. Something with enough internal consistency that allows this is something I'll be coming back to again and again. The more chaotic and more inconsistent a story is, the less I can enjoy it.

That hasn't really been a problem with OOTS.

Perhaps Ancalagon is right and I'm over-thinking the whole thing. Perhaps there is no underlying logic or reason. But there is nothing like looking, if you want to find something.

Besides which, just because the author did not INTEND to put the pattern there doesn't mean the pattern isn't there. If Rich Burlew makes a joke about Minnesota but doesn't make a joke about random care bears, it's because he knows what good storytelling is. he knows when a joke works and when it doesn't. So there IS a pattern. If there isn't a pattern in the story itself, there IS a pattern in the way that a story is told. The fact that Rich Burlew tells some kinds of jokes but not others tell me quite a bit about storytelling even if there's no explicit logic for it in the story itself.

I hope that makes sense.

It's best if you all just nod your heads and pretend it does, otherwise I'll have to try to explain AGAIN. And no one wants that!


Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Asthix]

I'll respond to your 1st and last post, in no particular order.

Imagine this: The party is walking along. Suddenly a great big care bear walks out of nowhere, hits belkar with a custard pie, then walks off.
I personally find this hilarious.:thog:

...
What is the relationship of OOTS to Earth, I wonder? Perhaps Minnesota and Japan are myths to the people of OOTS, the way Camelot and Middle-Earth are here? A place known of by legend, but isn't actually accessible by real-world people?
Yes. We have myths, why can't OotS have myths? The above seems like a perfectly logical explanation to me.

...it's clear that Haley knows what Minnesota is, based on strip 744.
Like how you know what Camelot is?

Come to think of it, Roy must have known where Japan was, to even have asked the question of Miko.
Yeah but by that logic you must know the spatial coordinates of Middle Earth to have mentioned it in your post. Bottom line- people talk about myths as though they were real. (we call them conspiracy theorists) This could be the case with Roy mentioning Japan, but Haley's drunk. In a logical sense, it doesn't matter what she's talking about.

Respectfully, Brian P.
I hope I have been informative and respectful in trying to clarify this issue.

[Urist McDwarf]

Its a stickfigure webcomic. Logic flies out the window the second they become aware of their medium.

[willpell]

Man, if Minnesota is a mythical land within the OOTS-verse, then I'm some sort of extra-planar mystical creature.

Me too! I've always felt like an Outsider....


And in answer to the question, Haley's drunk.

So getting soused out of your gourd leads to divine inspiration? Wow, it's just like the Oracle at Delphi.

[Killer Angel]

And in answer to the question, Haley's drunk.

This is clearly the true answer.
Minnesota doesn't exist in OotS universe, and Haley doesn't know about it, but she's drunk and thus, in commune with Thor. Who obviously knows about Minnesota and the Vikings. :smallcool:


I think Rich has stated before that the OOTS world simply operates by game rules, but isn't in fact a game itself with players and a dungeon master.

Rich has also stated that Belkar is evil... :smalltongue:

[pendell]

OT .. I've asked this before, and not been answered. Why IS Thor on the side of Minnesota Vikings helmets?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Ancalagon]

OT .. I've asked this before, and not been answered. Why IS Thor on the side of Minnesota Vikings helmets?

He very obviously - if you look at the helmet - is. Somehow. I'm not going into details about jokes about the 4th wall again as I have done that.

The other joke here, apart from the 4th wall, is there's a very strange thing and an somewhat interesting explanation, but we missed that explanation.
Therefore, we are left with something that is really puzzling but only see the end of the explanaing story. This is a joke (and different from the 4th wall thing).

[Tyndmyr]

Man, if Minnesota is a mythical land within the OOTS-verse, then I'm some sort of extra-planar mystical creature.

And in answer to the question, Haley's drunk.

Since Im from minnesota, does that make me a native outsider?

Want to buy: Scroll of Alter Self.

[Tyndmyr]

OT .. I've asked this before, and not been answered. Why IS Thor on the side of Minnesota Vikings helmets?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

Because Vikings worship Thor, and Thor is frigging awesome.

[Meg]

OT .. I've asked this before, and not been answered. Why IS Thor on the side of Minnesota Vikings helmets?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

It's not actually Thor. It's a generic viking guy who just so happens to look like Thor. And the helmets have horns on them, the Viking guy is just the logo/mascot.

[Maximum Zersk]

Oh, let's see what this thread's abou--

Oh, just the usual overthinking. Move along.

:smalltongue:

But you're all wrong. It's obvious that Minnesota is actually the World Tree that the OotSworld is built on. It's really quite simple.

See, Thor doesn't like trees. Trees don't like Thor. I have never seen a wombat in real life. Thus, Minnesota is a tree in the OotSworld.

[pendell]

He very obviously - if you look at the helmet - is. Somehow. I'm not going into details about jokes about the 4th wall again as I have done that.

The other joke here, apart from the 4th wall, is there's a very strange thing and an somewhat interesting explanation, but we missed that explanation.
Therefore, we are left with something that is really puzzling but only see the end of the explanaing story. This is a joke (and different from the 4th wall thing).

I am well aware. The question had nothing to do with order of the stick and everything to do with the question exactly as asked in the real world: "Why IS Thor on the side of the Vikings helmets?" Two people have already answered.



I'm not the only one here who over-thinks, evidently :).



Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Asthix]

I actually can't tell you because it's inappropriate for this site since it involves party boats. (You know how Thor loves his 'party' boats)

[Maxios]

Duh! "Minnesota" is next to nowhere, but far away from somewhere, and west to anywhere!