Wait... Clues

[Rufio]

Hey, in comic 45, I just noticed that :haley: calls :elan: "sweetie" Does that mean Giant had the whole romance idea the entire time :confused:?

[InfernusTribble]

Considering the Roy has great cleavage joke from that time period also ended up with the classic line "Roy has boobies" and the gender changing belt you could say that some of us believe the Giant has the entire strip storyline already pre-planned in great detail

I think there is a comment from the Giant somewhere more-or-less confirming his pre-planning of the strip's entire arc :smallsmile:

[Cade Shadow]

He said that he has a general idea of the entire thing, but doesn't have the details. So he might've known that Haley and Elan would get together, that the Belt of Gender Changing, which was taken in what #6? would be used by Roy later, that kind of things.

[Umbral_Arcanist]

Hey, in comic 45, I just noticed that :haley: calls :elan: "sweetie" Does that mean Giant had the whole romance idea the entire time :confused:?

I would say that he very well may have had the idea from day one, but that particular line doesn't seem like a hint at it. It seems to me that Haley is just saying sweetie in a sort of affectionate maternal way, as if she was dealing with a child.

One similar instance (?) that comes to mind is that in Firefly most of the crew (or at least several members) call River sweetie or honey at some point because she's a child.

[Emperor Ing]

Foreshadowing is something that is only noticed when either it is labeled as foreshadowing or when the thing that was being foreshadowed occurs.

[GrayMatter]

Also, if you get On the Origin of PC's, on page 66, Haley's first act re Elan is a wink ;) Elan's reaction doesn't possess much "elan" though.

[Sir_Norbert]

Yah, but Origins was written after the online strips had been going for a while.

As for the Haley/Elan romance, there are pretty strong hints (with hindsight) as early as #6.

[Kreistor]

Although more commonly used as a term of endearment between romantic characters, "sweetie" has also been used between close, and affectionate, although not sexually intimate, friends. Elan was too dense for it to occur tohim the term was anything except innocently applied, which is why Haley may have used it in one and expected it to be interpreted in another. So, the answer is a solid "maybe".

[BobTheFerret]

The Giant's actually said, many times, that he has the strip planned out.

Nothing to see here, folks...


...


However, these can be used to pick up on shifts in the plot in advance. One I've been expecting for a while is

Roy gets reincarnated in Miko's body. Yes, I know this is cheesy. But the Giant's gotten away with cheesy stunts before.

Have you seen any clues? We want to hear about them :smallbiggrin: (just SPOILER them please.)

[True]

In regards to the use of "sweetie" specifically being a clue, though, I always felt it was more affectionately patronizing, the sort of remark you might make to a child (which Elan clearly is).

[Forevergrey]

Each week of strips mysteriously appears in his letterbox, monday at the witching hour. There are never any footsteps but there is the unmistakable smell of brimstone in the air.

[David Argall]

The strip is clearly planned out fairly well for a substantial period of time. The prophecies tell us at least some details are mapped out far ahead. He at least had to have the Nale-Elan confrontation well in mind before telling Haley not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Now that does not mean there can't be changes, even fairly last minute ones. "Wardrobe malfunction" was yanked off the news right away. And the talk about changing stuff just to fool us also argues for changes that can be real close to deadline time.

We can't be sure he was thinking of Roy wearing the belt of sex change when he had Elan grab it. It is such a clear joke item that one could put it into the story long before the victim was chosen.

[Pyrian]

Hey, in comic 45, I just noticed that :haley: calls :elan: "sweetie" Does that mean Giant had the whole romance idea the entire time :confused:?

Don't forget 28...

"...I'm off to see what his 18 charisma is worth 'under the hood.'" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0028.html)

[factotum]

Don't forget 28...

"...I'm off to see what his 18 charisma is worth 'under the hood.'" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0028.html)

That could just be simple curiosity. Don't forget that most of the OotS were drooling at Haley's "wardrobe malfunction" in one of the early strips, yet not all of them have ended up going out with her!

[Twilight Jack]

She also stole Belkar's healing potion and gave it to Elan in #8. By itself, that act means little, but given everything we now know, I don't think it's meaningless.

[Dusk_Rider]

Don't forget comic 88... (sorry, I'm not sure how to make it a link).

[Bogardan_Mage]

The idea of Elan and Haley's unrequited love was a running joke for a while, and I'm reasonably certain it predates 45. Especially since, by #56 at least, it's revealed that their evil opposites have requited love (or lust, I guess). Considering that it's something of a literary cliche, I wouldn't be surprised if it was planned since the begining, or close to it.

[basilisk 89]

I make comics and I totally make them up as I go along. I don't even think to the future of my characters.

[Wonton]

Yeees... and how many readers do you have?
And how many does Rich have?
...
:smallamused:

[basilisk 89]

Considering I make them with pen on paper and don't have a scanner, I have 1 reader. Me. All I'm saying is my style is directly opposite from Rich. Then again, the OotS doesn't have giant marshmellows.

[kirbsys]

As for the belt, I think that was probably just a joke, then he decided that if Elan picked it up he could work it in as something later. I mean it's possible, who really knows, but I doubt it.

[Spiky]

It did not foreshadow their relationship, it was one of many non-subtle comments about Haley liking Elan. While that is related to their future relationship, that is not the same thing as foreshadowing.

[Foxtale]

Considering the Roy has great cleavage joke from that time period also ended up with the classic line "Roy has boobies" and the gender changing belt you could say that some of us believe the Giant has the entire strip storyline already pre-planned in great detail

I think there is a comment from the Giant somewhere more-or-less confirming his pre-planning of the strip's entire arc :smallsmile:With the gender changing belt, I thought that was more just a joke on the usefulness of useless items in the most ridiculous of situations. PCs can manage to make use of those items in ways that completely change the story in unexpected ways.