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View Full Version : How to let your companion get "his way": Compare and contrast


rbetieh
2012-02-17, 02:52 PM
We have had two recent examples of 3rd parties finding themselves in the middle of a vengeful character and their object of hatred.

In this case,

Varsuvius (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0835.html)

and

Tarquin, (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0820.html) part 2 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0822.html)

I find it interesting in their divergent handling of the problem. Now, the situations have some important differences.

1) Nale is T's Son, YukYuk is V's "Slave"
2) Malack and T are (supposedly) good friends, Belkar and V are definately not friends
3) Malack intended to Kill Nale, Belkar apparently did not
4) And V followed through on allowing the action to happen, where T did not

What do you all think about this? What does the difference in outcome tell us about these two characters difference in outlook, if anything at all?
NerfTW
2012-02-17, 03:43 PM
What do you all think about this? What does the difference in outcome tell us about these two characters difference in outlook, if anything at all?

If this weren't about a webcomic, I'd swear someone just posted their English homework.
ti'esar
2012-02-17, 03:46 PM
If this weren't about a webcomic, I'd swear someone just posted their English homework.

I so wish that first clause didn't exist - I'd love to see OOTS taught in classes one day.

Anyway, the first point I'd make is that it may be premature to declare that Tarquin didn't let Malack get his way. They aren't going to need Nale forever, and there's been a lot of speculation that "this is business" here (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0822.html) may have a been a code of some sort, as in "business before pleasure.
Math_Mage
2012-02-17, 03:51 PM
The two incidents aren't all that comparable, since all the relationships are different, the acts of revenge being considered are decidedly dissimilar, and we don't even know if Tarquin's initial response is his true response.
rbetieh
2012-02-17, 03:55 PM
If this weren't about a webcomic, I'd swear someone just posted their English homework.

Sorry, I was watching Star Trek TNG before it went into syndication.....:smallcool: I remember playing the AD&D TSR games too (of which the first Dark Sun was fantastic, need Dosbox to play that again). So no, not homework, just interest in how people compare the two actions.
ThePhantasm
2012-02-17, 04:10 PM
The two incidents aren't all that comparable, since all the relationships are different, the acts of revenge being considered are decidedly dissimilar, and we don't even know if Tarquin's initial response is his true response.

I agree. Little to nothing can be drawn from this comparison, especially at this stage.
Gift Jeraff
2012-02-17, 05:01 PM
It tells us that Tarquin cares for the son he spent 20 years with, and Vaarsuvius does not care for the person who met V a few days ago and tried to kill him/her. Alternatively, Tarquin is just using Nale as others have postulated.
Michaeler
2012-02-17, 05:27 PM
It tells me that a reader thinks they know what Tarquin is up to.