OOTS #468 - The Discussion Thread

[The Giant]

New comic is up.

[DrivinAllNight]

yeah :), nice to see some OotS action again.
and is that a cut on her back or a small tattoo??

[Deuce]

Sweet, that was cute Rich. :smallsmile:

[StickMan]

PLZ don't kill the red shirts now.

[kirbsys]

Aww thas sweet.

[Shadic]

I was just rereading the old one!

The first panel of them kissing looks exactly like Nale and Sabine's kiss... Go figure.

And it's safe to assume that Elan and Haley and done... A lot together.

Glad that they're getting Roy's body though. Belkar certainly knows how to keep himself from getting cursed. He's showing a decently high intelligence sometimes, you know?

[Oolong]

Love Haley's tattoo. :smallsmile:

[OmegaDonut]

Glad to see the EoFaF didn't go anywhere. :]

EDIT: Also more glad to see the dialogue between the two soldiers. Awww.

[goldgecko4]

Why is this comic so GOOD?!

[Pyro]

Nice comic with Haley and Elan. Too bad Belkar has to go because I know he's gonna screw something up.

[shaddy_24]

That was pretty good. Now we know how they're getting out of the city, how they're getting Roy's body and that the NPCs still have a chance for survival (they look like they're becoming a couple... awww). And we can see Belkar is the only one thinking about his curse (no one should be surprised about that).


AND I SAW THE TATOO!!! Wonder if Elan has yet?

[Imrahil]

All I could think of during the redshirt conversation was the following:

"My one regret in all of this, is never being with you."
"With me? You mean to say as... sex?"
"I mean to say..."
"To hell with this! I'm gonna live!"

Oh, and good to see that the EoFaF is back.

[holywhippet]

What is that on Haley's back? It looked like a small love heart with a black dot next to it. The small of your back is an odd place for a tattoo though since you'd never see it without a mirror or two.

[T23]

Belkar compensated for his missed double entendre's . . . how sweet.

[Gerli]

Very Nice! :smallsmile:

[kirbsys]

Two things: Durkon says 'E meaning neither she nor he.
Second: Haley's got a tattoo

[kitsunealyc]

I was wondering if it was a tattoo, or just scratches from the night before...although I suppose scratches would have healed at some point with all the cure lights Durkon was probably throwing around.

I love it when incidental characters hook up. That was so cute.:smallredface:

[Alkor Eldric]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! ^_^

Haley and Elan are too cute. :smallbiggrin:

[Halikarnassian]

Just had to register for this one. That was so cute, Rich. I can't wait to see where this goes...

[The Wanderer]

Aw, the Redshirts are so cute. :smallbiggrin:

(Note to self: increase the betting odds that at least one of them dies before the end. :smallwink: )

Still no V. Curiouser and curiouser...

[Tordek]

I think one of the funniest parts was that Durkon's accent allows him to use the perfect pronoun for Varsuvius: 'E. It could be He or She, but if you've got the scottish accent, they sound the same!

Well done, Rich! I'm glad to know that Roy's body is getting retreived, though I'm surprised Durkon can raise dead.

[Ezlo]

When will we know the two redshirt's names? The suspense is killing me!

[Vulion]

Great comic, Rich. You are a master of comedy my friend...heh heh, biology is disgusting.

Come on, Redshirts, live through this!

[Aerysil]

slurp?

Ok, what's the tattoo, almost looks like a heart with an arrow through it.

[Kjata]

Nice.
"Ugh, biology is disgusting."

[brian c]

Wonderful!

I particularly liked Durkon's line about V, " 'E's still out there", failing to say either "he" or "she"

[NeonRonin]

Awwww, that was cute...

And I have to admit, I was wondering about the MoJ before I read this. Guess Belkar's Int and Wis aren't quite so crappy if he could remember it... but then again, maybe he only remembers things that affect HIM in a positive or negative way.

And Generic NPC 1 and Generic NPC 2 hooking up... priceless.

:belkar: "Don't make me use the Fireball on you"... Lol.

Good work, Rich.

[Alysar]

<rant>
Oh for cryin' out loud, people. It's a friggin tattoo!

Everyone else knew it was a tattoo at first sight. Why do people think that it's a cut? It's a heart with an arrow through it.
</rant>

Ok, sorry. It's out of my system now.

[Ampersand]

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest. Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.

[Wonton]

Heh.. I loved the punchline. :smallbiggrin:

Heheh... Durkon needs Roy's body. :smallamused:

[SPoD]

It's definitely a tattoo; in panel 9 of this comic (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0309.html), Haley's second speech ballon translates to "I have a tattoo you've never seen."

Where's that guy who says no mysteries ever resolve in this comic? :wink:

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Okay. This was very good.

First base: Belkar's double entendres.

Second base: Durkon's lack of correct pronounciation of personal pronouns. :smallwink:

Third base: Haley's tattoo.

Home: EoFaF is back, and it's a definitive Belkar weapon, I'd wager.


Ladies and gentlemen, we got a home run.


PS: I know the analogy is for... um... other things. But still. We had a home run anyway. :smalltongue:

[oball]

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest. Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.

New couples are always like that.

[Breaon]

All I could think of during the redshirt conversation was the following:

"My one regret in all of this, is never being with you."
"With me? You mean to say as... sex?"
"I mean to say..."
"To hell with this! I'm gonna live!"

Oh, and good to see that the EoFaF is back.

Nice Serenity reference :)

Sadly, I think we just saw the Redshirts' demise foreshadowed.

[Clamps]

"Biology is disgusting"

Hee!

[kreszantas]

Nice threat there Belkar, always promoting self interest WTG :smallbiggrin:

[Ampersand]

New couples are always like that.

Granted, but I fail to see what dedicating 8 of 13 panels on the second page to the two of them making out adds to the story.

[Parasocrates]

New couples are always like that.

Seriously, they remind me of two people I know in real life.

EDIT:


Granted, but I fail to see what dedicating 8 of 13 panels on the second page to the two of them making out adds to the story.

Well, there was hardly any text in a good few of those panels, so adding some romantic involvement didn't make today's strip that much longer to read.

[Nazzo, the 102nd]

Maybe it's a silly question but... why you people keep calling Azure City's soldiers "redshirts"?

[Clamps]

Granted, but I fail to see what dedicating 8 of 13 panels on the second page to the two of them making out adds to the story.

Besides the gag where they starting taking each other's clothes off right then and there, of course.

[Halikarnassian]

Maybe it's a silly question but... why you people keep calling Azure City's soldiers "redshirts"?

It's a Star Trek reference. The nameless ship crewman who was the victim of the Bizarre Alien of the Week almost always wore a red shirt.

Those who call these people redshirts are, I assume, anticipating a grisly demise for them later on.

[Aimbot]

Maybe it's a silly question but... why you people keep calling Azure City's soldiers "redshirts"?

Unfortunately some people watch Star Treck.

[Vhaidara]

If I hadn't read every strip in here, I would say this:

"Have you no shame?"

[RTGoodman]

Sadly, I think we just saw the Redshirts' demise foreshadowed.

Yep, and that makes me sad. But you gotta love the EoFaF.

:xykon: Ugh, biology is disgusting.

[Laman_Stahros]

Maybe it's a silly question but... why you people keep calling Azure City's soldiers "redshirts"?

Its a reference to the original Star Trek series. The security officers wore red shirts and they tended to lose one in each episode. It implies that they are expendable.

[Euphemism]

The tattoo is made of win and colored with awesome.

[Pvednes]

Aww, that was really sweet.

Teehee, we've seen her tattoo now. :D

[Gleanerizer]

Wow, how long has it been since we had a smiley-smiley on the new comic thread?

Glad I stayed up for this. This comic rocks.

[StClair]

Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.

Spoken like someone who isn't, and hates it when their friends make out around them. :smalltongue:
Couples, especially new couples, do this. ALL THE TIME.

EDIT: Damn, oball beat me to it.

Speaking of couples, I really hope the two soldiers make it through this to have that cup of sake together.

[Turcano]

"Heh heh. Durkon needs Roy's body."

Oh Belkar. Don't ever change.

[Nogard]

I'm guessing tattoo. anyone wanna blow it up and enhance it for us and post it here?

[Breaon]

Spoken like someone who isn't, and hates it when their friends make out around them. :smalltongue:
Couples, especially new couples, do this. ALL THE TIME.

EDIT: Damn, oball beat me to it.

Speaking of couples, I really hope the two soldiers make it through this to have that cup of sake together.

Some people just drank to much h8erade today I think. I think it's cute, and adds an element of humanism given the huge battle they just took part in; reminds us of what really matters. And, come on, it provides a great line for Belkar and the skull.

I hope the soldiers make it too.

[Gavin Sage]

If the redshirts die now I think I will actually cry.....

Still going by the classic Trek standard of dying to prove the situation is serious they have passed the climax.

[Haruspex]

Glad to see they didn't forget Roy. Splitting up a party rarely ever leads to good things though. Gotta love Belkar's new toy.

[Wonton]

Hey.. I just had an Elan-like premonition...
Just the fact that those two "redshirts" as you call them, or just guards, hooked up, means that one of them is going to die soon so that the other can cry over their broken corpse and go on a mad killing spree. They will possibly even save the lives of one of the important characters, if they, say, get ambushed by hobbos. This would be the girl if we follow fantasy stereotypes, but we know Rich likes breaking those, so for all we know we could have her go all Xena Warrior Princess on us...

[CockroachTeaParty]

Heh heh. Durkon needs Roy's body.

[Porthos]

Awwwww, that was so saccharine I could barely breath.

I loved it! :smallbiggrin:

Plus we had more classic Belkar "reasoning" and innuendo, so what's not to love?

Finally, count me in the "the tattoo is an Arrow through the Heart" brigade. It's a classic for a reason, after all. :smallsmile:

[Lerch]

Nice.
"Ugh, biology is disgusting."

Only if you don't have a body to practice with...of course there are..uh nevermind..

[Gavin Sage]

Hey.. I just had an Elan-like premonition...
Just the fact that those two "redshirts" as you call them, or just guards, hooked up, means that one of them is going to die soon so that the other can cry over their broken corpse and go on a mad killing spree. They will possibly even save the lives of one of the important characters, if they, say, get ambushed by hobbos. This would be the girl if we follow fantasy stereotypes, but we know Rich likes breaking those, so for all we know we could have her go all Xena Warrior Princess on us...

But thats still sterotypical. Redshirts are supposed to die, they are cannon fodder. Therefore the two of them surviving and living out reasonably happy lives is the most anti-sterotypical they can possibly be.

[blennus]

The last panel with the redshirts, is that a Doctor Who reference? Or maybe not. Anyways great comic!

[H. Zee]

Heh heh..."Durkon needs Roy's body." That made me laugh so hard. I guess I share Belkar's sense of humour...God help me.

[TerraNova]

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest. Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.

Err... have you ever seen a relationship between PCs which was not painfully obvious, painfully physical and intensely annoying to any onlooker save the players "involved" in it?

[Bunny]

Is that a tatoo I see on Ms Starshine's back? :elan: My, my!

Amor is contagious I see. But why not? I could go for a hot cup of Absolutely myself.

Bunny

[Dr'uun Unnh]

Does this mean that we get to see Belkar using his cool hooded cloak again? ::)

With regard to Belkar and Haley's treacherous mission, I can't help but keep thinking of strip #157 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0157.html), and this time Belkar has an Eye of Fear and Flame.:smallbiggrin:

[Lizard Lord]

Granted, but I fail to see what dedicating 8 of 13 panels on the second page to the two of them making out adds to the story.

I am sorry but I can not help but bring up a quote everyone's favorite halfling.

:belkar: "Whine, whine, whine, I'm Ampersand and I want more plot points."

:smallbiggrin: :smallwink:

Edit just in case: For the record I am not calling a whiner, I just found this funny.

[Xandu Hotep]

Heh. Wonder if there's a name on that tattoo...

As for the Redshirts... who knows, they may just get names soon. :smallsmile:

Oh, :belkar: , I love you...

[Girl Wonder]

I was just rereading the old one!

The first panel of them kissing looks exactly like Nale and Sabine's kiss... Go figure.

And it's safe to assume that Elan and Haley and done... A lot together.

Glad that they're getting Roy's body though. Belkar certainly knows how to keep himself from getting cursed. He's showing a decently high intelligence sometimes, you know?

While I don't think Belkar is stupid, I -do- sort of think his intelligence works very similar to my dog's. When he is being instructed to sit, or stay, or get in the back seat the car, he seems to be just a little dense. When I instruct him in the same way with a treat in my hand, he gets quite smart all of a sudden. In short, his intelligence is directly proportional to his level of self-interest in the matter, and that really seems to be the way it works with Belkar :)

[Krytha]

LOL! That was so gross and hilarious.

[Leo_Forestclaw]

LOL - I'm lovin' it!

Haley has a "tramp stamp!" You go, girl!



*Never have I been to happy to be ninja'ed!*

[erewhon]

LOL - I'm lovin' it!

Haley has a a tramp stamp! You go, girl!


TRAMP STAMP!?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

OMG. I think I broke somehting....

[Naltyrr]

Does this mean that we get to see Belkar using his cool hooded cloak again? ::)

With regard to Belkar and Haley's treacherous mission, I can't help but keep thinking of strip #157 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0157.html), and this time Belkar has an Eye of Fear and Flame.:smallbiggrin:

hehe, I was thinking along the same lines. although perhaps serving the greater Belkar will win out and help keep him on track.

[Spiky]

But thats still sterotypical. Redshirts are supposed to die, they are cannon fodder. Therefore the two of them surviving and living out reasonably happy lives is the most anti-sterotypical they can possibly be.

So? What's wrong with a stereotype? It is simply a commonality based on fact.

[Caractacus]

I, too, now am emotionally committed to the survival and happiness of the incidental characters. Luckily, I don't do fanfic or this could get seriously out of proportion... :smallcool:




Haley has a a tramp stamp! You go, girl!


Tramp stamp??

Bwahahahahahahahaha! *gasp*

Bwahahahahahahahaha! *breathe*


Smart! :smalltongue:

[jamroar]

:xykon: Ugh, biology is disgusting.

Well, after making a statement like that, it's likely that the EoFnF will wind up as

Tsukiko's personal toy skull.

[Imrahil]

Well, after making a statement like that
, it's likely that the EoFnF will wind up as Tsukiko's personal toy.

Thank you, you just broke my mind. And given that I was a little crazy before that, I'm now way over the edge.

[demona]

awww, it's so cute and sweet :smallredface:

i'm sitting at my desk at my work with this really big grin on my face and i can't stop smiling :smallbiggrin:

thank you, Giant - you made my day :smallsmile:

[Holy_Knight]

Awwwwwwwwwww... Haley and Elan are so cute! And isn't this the first time we've actually seen Elan say "I love you" to her? :elan: :haley:

[Webwalker]

LOL - I'm lovin' it!

Haley has a "tramp stamp!" You go, girl!

Normally the "Tramp Stamp" is a bit lower on the back, but these are stick figures, so maybe it is a tramp stamp.

Re: Comic

I loved the ending. That rocked.

[Leo_Forestclaw]

Tramp stamp??

Bwahahahahahahahaha! *gasp*

Bwahahahahahahahaha! *breathe*


Smart! :smalltongue:

I should note, in the spirit of full disclosure, that the phrase "tramp stamp" is common usage in the US to describe any tattoo inked on that section of the lower back generally only visible when you have VERY low riding jeans or more revealing clothing. :smallsmile:

[The Wanderer]

Tramp stamp??

Bwahahahahahahahaha! *gasp*

Bwahahahahahahahaha! *breathe*


Smart! :smalltongue:

My personal favorite term is the sluttoo. :smallwink:

[caranha]

Soooooo Basic movie theory says that when a redshirt mentions his family, or his girlfriend at home in some war movie, they will get killed.

Now that two redshirts have mentioned this at the same time to one another, do we get double effect?

I'm pretty sure after this strip that the no-names are toast :-P

[Thimble]

I was thinking: "How noble and self-sacrificing Haley is. She's really acting out the 'Good' part of her alignment."

Then I thought, "She's gonna swing by the treasury and loot it, isn't she?"

Bets?

[Chronos]

Incidentally, it's not just us. Haley calls the soldiers "redshirts", too.

Hey, if Vaarsuvius can be a fan of Judy Garland, then there's no reason Haley can't be a Trekkie.

[Gamgee]

The no names are probably going to die a split second before we learn there names.... thats my prediction.

[The Wanderer]

Thank you, you just broke my mind. And given that I was a little crazy before that, I'm now way over the edge.

I don't suppose you've tried wading through the various romantic interest threads yet, or that OOTS House of Horrors thread in the crafts sections? Cause that might raise your insanity to exponentially worse and, (for me anyway), interesting levels. :smallwink:

[Imrahil]

I don't suppose you've tried wading through the various romantic interest threads yet, or that OOTS House of Horrors thread in the crafts sections? Cause that might raise your insanity to exponentially worse and, (for me anyway), interesting levels. :smallwink:

Oh, I've been through those threads before. And thankfully, my mild psychosis kept me okay for the most part. That last post was the straw that broke the camel's back, or more apt in this case, the dog that made the postal worker go, well, postal.

[Shatteredtower]

That's not a tattoo.

That's the scar from where they cut Haley's wings off. :smallwink:

I can't help find it amusing that for as much as Belkar loves his innuendo, he dislikes a free show. Then again, I guess he might be viewing it as on his clock.

[Amotis]

Cup Of Coffee = Teh Sex Is On

"Let us kiss with tongues!

Euaglululualala!

...

Euagluauaua!"

[The Wanderer]

Oh, I've been through those threads before. And thankfully, my mild psychosis kept me okay for the most part. That last post was the straw that broke the camel's back, or more apt in this case, the dog that made the postal worker go, well, postal.

Well, it's certainly a good mental image to do it, although I thought there were worse int hose threads, honestly...

And hey, regarding Tsukiko and the Eye, some girls like it hot, y'know? :smallwink: :smallbiggrin:

[5tephen]

Awww... NPC Wuv!

(And I had totally forgotten about that specific condition of the Mark. Make's you wonder why Belkar gave Roy the Ring of Jumping in the first place. Idle sadistic boredom, I suppose.)

[Jinura]

You must agree to me when i say that the funniest was:


1: :belkar: Hehe your junk

And

2: :belkar: Hehe :durkon: needs :roy: ´s body

[mockingbyrd7]

The no names are probably going to die a split second before we learn there names.... thats my prediction.

Lol, it's probably something like they're having a romantic scene and,

"You know, I don't even know your name."
"Twelve Gods, I should have told you! Where are my manners? It's--"
*arrow through the chest*
"Whatever-your-name-was! NOOOOO!"

[SteveMB]

Glad to see the EoFaF didn't go anywhere.
What Belkar really needed to turn on those two was an Eye of Inhibition and Cold Showering. :smallwink:

[Mordokai]

Funny comic, that ended with that awwwwwwwwwww moment. I actually getting quite fond of the redshirts, and it would be good to see them to live. Alas, with today's comic, I think their chances of surviving just plunged :smallfrown:

Good comic, again.

[Alias]

I think the no-names will survive and their names will eventually be known. After all, every long running series needs a Wedge Antilles (Luke's wingman in the first attack on the Death Star, shows up briefly in Empire and in Jedi as well).

[EdgarVerona]

WOOT! Rich, I loved the Eddie Izzard reference at the very end! Well done!

[Agalyon]

haha, that was one of the funniest OotS' I've seen in a long time.

Keep it up Giant :smallbiggrin:

[Jamie Fameflame]

Awesome :smallbiggrin:

Return of that wacky fire slinging skull, great punchlines, lots of story... This strip had everything that defines a great OOTS comic for me. Except Xykon, of course, but the Skull sort of made up for that :smalltongue:

Nice performance from the guards as well, it's rare to see them contribute with anything but being background.

EDIT: SteveMB: True :smallbiggrin:

[Dentarg]

Whoo! Go Elan & Haley! *Cues Barry Manillo (sp?) Music*

Nice tattoo Haley, wonder what it says on it... (If anything)

Surprised they kept Hinjo's junk at the docks, otherwise they might never leave Azure City alive. I hope they find V soon, I miss that intelligent wizard.

- Dentarg

[SPoD]

WOOT! Rich, I loved the Eddie Izzard reference at the very end! Well done!

Huh? I don't see it...

[johnnyriot999]

Aww the reshirts found love....:smallredface:

[shylocxs]

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest. Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.

I have GOT to agree!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

KISSING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just voicing my discontent with such aspects of biology.

[TRat]

So by this we are presuming that Roy is less than a mile off and that Belkar has not strayed more than that? But didn't he run around outside the walls, then inside the walls? Or are we supposed to ignore that and pretend everything is within a mile?

[Grasilich]

That was horribly cheesy, though I guess cheesy #1 is rule when it comes to Haley and Elan. I hope something eventually happens to shake that couple up. Anything to make it so that these types of comics happen less frequently.

[Icewalker]

Aaaawwwww, the two nameless soldiers got together :smallsmile:

[Siberys]

Unfortunately some people watch Star Treck.

Hey, if you're going to insult a cult favorite, spell it's name correctly. It's "Trek".

And in Klingon, 'cause I'm a trekkie and am actually trying to teach myself to speak it... :smallcool:

va, pong DaghItlhchu' 'e' lumaSghach ngotlh tIch! "Trek" 'oH!

(If someone out there is skilled in Klingon, could you check my grammar?)

Anyways, on-topic...

I liked this one. As someone said earlier, it's so saccharine it can't help but make someone happy. And the EoFaF is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

[Tordek]

I think its hilarious that Elan and Haley started getting naked right there. Talk about hormones!

[Martok]

Nice. This was my favorite strip in a long time. Both cute and funny at the same time (loved Haley's comment about the "redshirts"). :smallsmile:

[Mystyco]

Great xD

however, thinking of it, haley could simply kill belkar too and put him in the bag with roy's corpse xDDDDDDDD

also, Biology IS distrubing afterall

[Anthea]

Hm... it seems the last 3 levels Belkar invested only in Intelligence. Just weird :smallbiggrin:

[Senex]

"smooch! grope! grope!" indeed :smallbiggrin:

[Caractacus]

So by this we are presuming that Roy is less than a mile off and that Belkar has not strayed more than that? But didn't he run around outside the walls, then inside the walls? Or are we supposed to ignore that and pretend everything is within a mile?

I think it could all be pretty easily within a mile. If Belkar jumped over the walls in the same direction as Roy went (eventually), which, given the coast down one side of the city and the fact that they were together at first, seems fair enough, then he could easily remain within a mile. It's a fair old way, after all.

Or maybe the curse takes a while to get going - perhaps one sickens over a period of hours and days. After all, if it is supposed to kill, it should do so immediately, else it's a pretty evil thing to do to someone if you are Lawful Good. So I always assumed it sickened you slowly enough that you could change your mind about running away and get back to where you should be before the sickness gets incapacitating. But then, that's a lot of assumptions on my part... :smallwink:

[carais]

What an interesting amount of thinking on Belkar's side. And quite reasonable, too. Anyway, on the tattoo - it has been suspected it's a heart pierced by an arrow. While I agree on the classicalness of this, it looks more like "I (heart) ..." to me, with the right hand side hidden by the curve of her back.

2 silver on the redskirts' survival.

[David Argall]

"Elan and Haley sitting in a tower...Kissing..."

[RyQ_TMC]

Ha! Another proof that V is male!

Yeah, I'm talking about Durkon's "'e" - 99% probability it would be "he" (can't think of any logical reason why Durkon would shorten "she", but hey, Rich is a cunning beast). Which adds nicely to V being called "V-man" by Roy a long time ago (and, I gather, before Rich decided on "gender ambiguity"). Yeah.

Plus, Belkar. Great, as usual.

While I can hardly think of any OOTS strip I could call "bad", or even "mediocre", this one is WAY better than most of the last story arc (maybe I was getting tired of all the blue and got into criticizing mood).

[Pantler]

Aww, so friggin' cute. It reminds me so much of my goodbyes :smile:

On an added note, that's a nice heart-pierced-by-an-arrow tattoo on Haley's back. I wonder how old is it...

[dogmac]

I am APPALLED, Elan.
Pulling up Haley's shirt in front of everyone. Good thing Belkar interrupted or you would have been going for it on the floor! SHEESH!!!

Appalling behaviour in the youth of today....

:smalleek:

[RyQ_TMC]

I am APPALLED, Elan.
Pulling up Haley's shirt in front of everyone. Good thing Belkar interrupted or you would have been going for it on the floor! SHEESH!!!

Appalling behaviour in the youth of today....

:smalleek:

On the contrary, it brought memories to me, as I used to behave just like that when I had my first girlfriend. Now I'm feeling likewise appaled when I see teens doing just that.

Heh, I'm only 19 and already feel like an old gramp.

[factotum]

Ha! Another proof that V is male!


No it isn't, because the characters in the comic refer to V using both masculine and feminine terms interchangeably--they don't know "his" real sex either! (Remember that Belkar commented that knowing more about lizard anatomy would answer a lot of questions when he "inspected" the polymorphed V-lizard).

As for the strip, that pretty much answers the questions everyone was asking about Roy's body--certainly Belkar isn't willing to risk the body being put into a Bag of Holding for fear it'll trigger the Mark!

[Mr Teufel]

Oh, those of you seriously dissing Haley and Elan's smoochiness - remember in comic time they only got together maybe two days ago. Certainly less than a week! And battle fires the blood and gets the old survival instincts going. So give 'em a break!

It was also a neat way for The Giant to show us Haley's tatt. (Tramp Stamp! *sporfle!* :smallbiggrin: )

My guess is it reads "I <3 Daddy" or "Daddy's Girl".

[Bendal]

Like those two "redshirts" are going to survive long enough to get a cup of anything together...

Go Elan/Haley! So what if everyone else is watching you two make out!

[RyQ_TMC]

No it isn't, because the characters in the comic refer to V using both masculine and feminine terms interchangeably

Do they? I've noticed that they mostly say "V". Can't think of them using feminine terms at any point...

And yes, I know that they don't really know V's sex. But Rich said in "Dungeon Crawlin' Fools" that V didn't start out as a non-gender character, only became such when people started asking questions. And "V-Man" I mentioned in my last post is in strip #9, so that's pretty early...

[Krytha]

My guess is it reads "I <3 Daddy" or "Daddy's Girl".

I bet it reads "Brad + Haley 4evar"...

[Acco Spoot]

Awww, Redshirt romance :smallsmile: it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, now I really hope they survive.

[Foxtale]

I can't believe you guys! I didn't even notice that tattoo. :P

[Zone]

Aww, CUTE! Those two nameless soldiers fell in love <3 I really hope they are going to survive long enough.

And Haleys tattoo. Yea, like, everyone mentions it, but it's still.. Nevermind.

Well, what did we learn? Haley's really bad girl.

[mohair_ninja]

Elan and Haley look not being able to stop. They're too quick. Who knows, what happened earlier. (In the next strip, Haley will reveal to Belkar that she's pregnant and will ask how to tell Elan this. :smalltongue: )
And I don't think that a girl and a halfling carrying body of Roy will be unnoticed by hobgoblins. I'd rather put both Roy and Belkar into the Bag of Holding (is it possible? maybe with V's help?).

:haley: Well, you do have a good Hide skill.
Am I only who thinks that Haley doubts and only supposes that Belkar has Hide skill, basing on her knowledge that rangers should have it?
I love Haley's face in panel 8. I would be afraid of going with Belkar too

So, sayin short, great comic.
And I knew it will be 2 pages long.

EDIT:

With regard to Belkar and Haley's treacherous mission, I can't help but keep thinking of strip #157 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0157.html), and this time Belkar has an Eye of Fear and Flame.:smallbiggrin:
Yeah, and V's invisible again, EoFaF = torch... So... poor Belkar. I'm afraid that he'll not outrun Haley this time... :smallbiggrin:

[Eldred]

:haley: Well, you do have a good Hide skill.
Am I only who thinks that Haley doubts and only supposes that Belkar has Hide skill, basing on her knowledge that rangers should have it?
I love Haley's face in panel 8. I would be afraid of going with Belkar too

Nope, he does have high ranks in Hide (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0270.html).

And this was a great comic :smallsmile:

[Tyrmatt]

Belkar manages to cross a room full of gobbos without detection during the confrontation with Xykon and also states he has high ranks in Hide and Move Silently to Miko.
And I have to say AWWWWWWWWWWW to the guards romance to be. It's so bizarrely cute compared to Elan/Haley.

[MrEdwardNigma]

I'm supposing V will turn up once either of the two groups gets into trouble and is seeminlgy lost. Then V will suddenly come save the day!

[Xartyve]

Is V dead? Lets hope. :smallbiggrin:

I was wondering how many people would catch on to the tatoo but now I know. Never doubt the eye of a comic fan

[Omicroncubed]

Cute

Yet I have a bad feeling about :belkar: coming along on getting :roy:s body back :smalleek:

[mohair_ninja]

Nope, he does have high ranks in Hide (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0270.html).

The question is whether Haley knows... Belkar is unpredictable.

And no Hide skill helps you when you set something (e.g. tent) to fire :smallbiggrin:

[Eldred]

Well, with his trusty Eye of Fear and Flame I'm sure Belkar will be setting fire to a lot of things! :smallsmile:

[teratorn]

I'd rather put both Roy and Belkar into the Bag of Holding (is it possible? maybe with V's help?).

He'll die if stuck there for more than 10 minutes. That was proof that Belkar lurks these forums. I started a thread on this subject many strips ago, and now I fear for my life. My prediction:

Vultures have eaten Roy, so since they can't have a whole body they'll just pick a "friend" for the EFF, something that Belkar can carry easily.



Haley has a "tramp stamp!" You go, girl!
We knew she had one... I didn't know the expression. :smalleek:

Too cheesy, didn't like this strip. But then I was the only one complaining when they kissed that first time. I'll go sit in the corner, facing the wall.

[Jalor]

Wait, if the city is in ruins, where are the soldiers supposed to go for a date?

That aside, great comic. Apparently NPCs are people too.

[Idless]

Hmmm

there has been some speculation as to the environment that the other gates would be in, after this blue hell...

well, why speculate (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0276.html)

Idless

[pendell]

This one had me ROTFL with the EFF, Belkar , and the NPCs responding to the heated action in front of them.

And once again, I'm happy for a timely update.

And AMPERSAND is contributing again! I missed her sarcastic view of the universe. Haven't seen much of her lately ... maybe we've just been in different threads. Anyway, it's great to see her on the boards again.

WRT Belkar ... I think Belkar likes to joke about sex, but like most guys he doesn't like it happening right in front of him unless he's participating.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[InuSaga]

I didn't notice that tattoo until y'all pointed it out to me. I guess I wasn't staring hard enough. ~_^

Gods, I'm on the edge of my seat here. It's got to be getting to the end what what will be the third book, and damn if it's not cool.

[pendell]

Oh, and one other thing Re: H and E making out ...

My wife and I were like that ... until a short time after we got married .There's something about living together long-term that takes the edge off that eventually.

So let's not begrudge them their hormonal lovefest. It's something Elan will have to look back on in ten years when Haley's confronting him in curlers demanding he clean up, get a job, and ACT RESPONSIBLE, DAMMIT!

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Gandal]

I think V is in the library and will run into Redcloak and co.

[daydreamer]

Arw todays comic was very romantic and lovely. People who can't stand romance in comics will probably be falling off their seats in pain and trying not to be sick on the floor of their room.

[Hawkeye]

I know it's been said many times, but I've got to put in my input;

Awwwww, that's so cute :)

Nice to see a romantic moment when the city has been ransacked and taken over by hobgoblins.

[AriesOmega]

I loved this one. It made me laugh out loud at the end. The mission to recover Roy's body sounds like something I would do. I am really looking forward to seeing what happens.

[Fire_Wolf]

It's really nice to see a lighthearted fun strip after so much death and exposition lately. Nice one, Giant.

Oh, and remember that O-Chul and the Creature in the Darkness are also both outside the walls.

[Blaznak]

Awwwww.... that's so cute....

Hey! Haley sure is turning out to be the intelligent leader. Pretty good reasoning and all that. And Belkar once again gets all the best lines. Fun!

[Kilbia]

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest. Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.

Amp, this is still a very young relationship for them. They won't settle down with the kissyface for at least another six months.

[Baalzebub]

That was sweeet, it reminded me of something that happened with my girlfriend.

Best line? :belkar: Heh, heh, Durkon needs Roy's body.

[TroyXavier]

Serious but sweet......that was a good comic. I hope the no name redshirts survive just because I like the idea of them as a couple.

[EntilZha]

Lurve is in the air!

And Belkar with his double entendres, plus he still has the Eye of Fear and Flame, lol!!

[Kesnit]

I hope the redshirts live. The Giant has done too much to make them likeable to just kill them off now.

:belkar: proves again why he is my favorite character

[ferganam]

Wondering what a cup of absolutely tastes like.

Vodka?:smallwink:

[drewnchick]

I think one of the funniest parts was that Durkon's accent allows him to use the perfect pronoun for Varsuvius: 'E. It could be He or She, but if you've got the scottish accent, they sound the same.

Well...I'm not trying to make too much of this, since arguing about a comic strip is pointless, lame, and stupid. However, you have incorrectly represented the Scottish (or English or Brooklyn or Austrailian) accent. It is true that the leading "H" in a word is often dropped, but the leading "SH" is not. Thus, Durkon's dropping of leading letters (indicated by the apostrophe) could NOT be "She."

Having said that, I still make no argument for whether Vaarsuvius is male or female. First, Durkon's using the word "He" doesn't have to mean that he think of V as a male -- it's common English to use "he" for collective or unknown sexes, regardless of what the politically correct pundits say. Second, making that kind of argument about a comic is pointless, lame, and stupid. :smallwink:

[BanjoTheClown]

Finally, Roys gonna get Revived soon.:smallsmile:

[factotum]

Gods, I'm on the edge of my seat here. It's got to be getting to the end what what will be the third book, and damn if it's not cool.

Got me to thinking--it could be that the third book is already over! After all, the battle for Azure City is definitely over with--it could be that Haley and Belkar's quest to get Roy's corpse could turn out to be the start of a whole new plotline, maybe with the Order split for some time.

[SolkaTruesilver]

Got me to thinking--it could be that the third book is already over! After all, the battle for Azure City is definitely over with--it could be that Haley and Belkar's quest to get Roy's corpse could turn out to be the start of a whole new plotline, maybe with the Order split for some time.

I think you notched it. This IS definetly my bet. The OotS will be separated. Elan, Durkon and V (probably hinjo too), Haley-Roy-Belkar (probably O-Chul) on the other.

Dramatic moments as the two lovers are separated... and want to find each other back...

[shnu]

Are we getting another take on Hilarity ensues when two adventurers from different ends of the alignment spectrum must work together in the feel-good comedy of the year (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0387.html)?

[TheNovak]

Ha! I finally called something! I told people Haley'd put Roy in a Bag of Holding!

...And then Belkar had to open his mouth. Dammit, dude.

[calvinism]

Ohhhh Haley has a tramp stamp

[chibibar]

All I could think of during the redshirt conversation was the following:

"My one regret in all of this, is never being with you."
"With me? You mean to say as... sex?"
"I mean to say..."
"To hell with this! I'm gonna live!"

Oh, and good to see that the EoFaF is back.

firefly FTW!!!

Woo hoo... now the real fun is when Haley and Belkar going to get Roy in the middle of the battlefield... I hope that most of the army are in the city by now...

[BRC]

OOTS 2.0
Haley
Elan
Durokan
Belkar
Eye of Fear and Flame
Hinjo
Redshirt one
Redshirt two

My theory, the redshirts will remain consistant characters, but their names will be like V's gender, forever unkown

[shakes019]

Neither Elan (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0026.html) nor Haley (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0035.html) have any problem with public (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0302.html) nudity (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0036.html).

ETA: I hope that Hinjo doesn't join the OOTS. I mean I like him fine, but the core group has remained the same from the beginning, and I like that aspect of the strip. Lots of characters come and go, but to me, the main characters are the PCs and everyone else is an NPC.

[Guineamon]

I hope this works. I made the tattoo on Haley's back bigger a bit, and it should be slightly clearer than if you just drag and enlarge. I zoomed in on the picture 3200% and found out that there are no words on it! Just a heart with an arrow through. Enjoy.

http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r58/Guineamon/?action=view&current=OoTSHaleyTatoo.png

[Kgw]

I don't think there will be a OOTS 2.0. Or the same characters, or nothing.

And the part about the redshirts' couple is cute. :D

[DrivinAllNight]

well, it's been established that it is a tattoo, but what could the name be that goes with it, after all, don't most heart w/arrow tattoos have a name with them?
And no i do not have a guess as to what the name might be, i haven't read any of the books to know more about Haley's back-story.

[Khory]

Referring to comic 465...does anyone think that "The New Girl" will find Roy's body and raise him to be the powerful undead warrior?

[Guineamon]

Ghee, the tattoo does not have words on it. Try zooming in on it till you can see the pixels, there are no black pixels on the "heart" area, only for the arrow

[comicadv]

I like the two nameless NPCs a lot. Cute dialoage. Please don't kill them or... well find out for your self...
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48315

[shakes019]

I don't think we have enough evidence to conclude whether or not there's a name on the tattoo. I think it's drawn too small for Rich to have included any writing that would be discernable. We'll have to wait and see.

I'm guessing that :belkar: and :haley: will have a short conversation about it at the beginning of the next strip.


Good thing Belkar came in or there would have been a graphic screen.
It would have been pixelated.

[Omega]

Good thing Belkar came in or there would have been a graphic screen. :smallbiggrin:

[Zephra]

quote: haley says., "I have a tattoo you've never seen"
awwwwwwww...I love those nameless people

bag of holding--poor person's gentle repose

[Faryn]

Only one thing to say



Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

so kawaii!

[Adeptus]

Nice. A feel-good strip for a change.

[Bendal]

Haley's tattoo probably says "I love gold"; no way could she have one that says "I love Elan"; she wasn't so sure she loved him at all until just recently, or that he felt the same way towards her.

[Adventurer]

I loved this comic. Not only was it funny in several places, but it sets the scene for some good ol' rogue-type action. Rogue & Belkar VS a lot of hobgoblins, with Roy's body at stake. I much prefer small-size-group rogue missions to wars between huge armies:smallbiggrin:

As for the redshirts, yeah they have gotten to be very likable, but not knowing their names is part of the fun (*) so I don't think they'll ever get names.


(*) For some reason I read Haley's phrase as : "You, Elan, Belkar, Durkon .... oh, and the two redshirts :smalltongue: "

[Mad Scientist]

I love that Belkar is insisting on helping Haley only because he's worried that the mark of justice will go off. Time to see whether their spot checks are high enough to find Roy's body.

[Doug Lampert]

Well done, Rich! I'm glad to know that Roy's body is getting retreived, though I'm surprised Durkon can raise dead.
Why in the world does this surprise you? The party is clearly around 13th level, Raise Dead can be cast by any level 9 Cleric.

[Roderick_BR]

yeah :), nice to see some OotS action again.
and is that a cut on her back or a small tattoo??
And we almost had some Elan x Haley action....:smallbiggrin: Damn Belkar! :smalltongue:

[Zeekar]

I loved this comic. Silly naysayers, how can you not like the Elan/Haley making-out goodness? And of COURSE Haley has a tramp stamp. Did you not see the flashback to her teenage years? She is exactly the type.

To veer slightly off topic for a sec:


Hey, if you're going to insult a cult favorite, spell it's name correctly. It's "Trek".

...which is an actual, ya know, English word; it's not like Roddenberry made it up for the show. But if you're going to nit-pick someone else's spelling, you should watch out for I-beams in your own eyeball; that should be "its name", no apostrophe. :)


And in Klingon, 'cause I'm a trekkie and am actually trying to teach myself to speak it...

Wow. A Trekkie, unafraid to call yourself such, openly admitting to studying Klingon. Even on a board dedicated to a comic strip based on a roleplaying game, that takes some courage. :)



va, pong DaghItlhchu' 'e' lumaSghach ngotlh tIch! "Trek" 'oH!


Lessee. Looks like you're trying to say "Insulted fans prefer that you write the name correctly", but it's not quite right. For one thing, "lumaSghach" is a noun meaning something like "the act of them preferring it". And I'm not sure what "tIch" is doing there grammatically, it's just sort of tacked on the end.

ngotlhwI'pu' DatIchchugh, pong DaghItlhchu' 'e' lumaS. "Trek" 'oH!

"If you're going to insult the fans, they prefer that you write the name correctly." Or perhaps something simpler:

ngotlhwI'pu' DatIchDI', pong yIghItlhchu'! "Trek" 'oH!

"When you insult the fans, write the name correctly!"

But I'm no pabwI', so take that with a tIr of salt.

[Lira]

Well done, Rich! I'm glad to know that Roy's body is getting retreived, though I'm surprised Durkon can raise dead.Why in the world does this surprise you? The party is clearly around 13th level, Raise Dead can be cast by any level 9 Cleric.
Also, Belkar mentioned that Durkon can cast it in strip #286 (panel 6) (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0286.html).

I really enjoyed this comic, the new little romance between the nameless NPCs is really cute, I hope they don't die anytime soon.

[the_tick_rules]

belkar has a dirty mind huh. I really liked the miko zombie strip, boy that woulda been a twist.

[tamashii]

Good comic today. Nice hint of Haley's tattoo as well. Now - I wasn't interested in reading 8 pages of posts here, but is there any conspiracy theories as to the tattoo itself? Of a nefarious nature, of course?

Belkar is, as always, hilarious and showing some good sense in such dire times.

[moscatabaco]

I can't WAIT for Roy to come back. Sure he's the straight guy, but seriously the strip is not the same without him.

*PLEASE* don't you kill the redshirts!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(... you will won't you? Lack of name has never aided an NPC to survive...)

[Twilight Jack]

So, I was saying to myself yesterday, while thinking of the romance betwixt Elan and Haley, "Self, we know that Elan cares about Haley, it is true, but Haley has always been the pursuer in this little 'ship, and we don't know how Elan really feels. He cares about her, to be sure, but it could be that he's just going along to get along. Not that he'd reject her, because he is attracted and he does care deeply, but her passion for him seems to be the stronger of the two and I wonder if that's going to become an issue at some point in the future. Come to think of it, self, when Haley said that she loved Elan, he didn't say it back. His response was just to kiss her and ask if she wanted to make out. A gag in a comedy, it's true, but is it something about which we Elan-Haley 'shippers should be concerned? Was it a dodge? Is Elan really in love with Haley?"

So, in reading through this thread, I noted that no one has brought it up, and I'd like to call a bit of attention to it.

Strip 468 marks the first time that Elan tells Haley that he really loves her too.

That strikes me as significant for some reason.

[Rollin]

Registered for the forums just so I can be the first to point out the other pun in panel #2. Why couldn't they move Hinjo's ship? Because he had a Lien on it! As the Giant once again reveals he has been to law school...

[Recursive]

Registered for the forums just so I can be the first to point out the other pun in panel #2. Why couldn't they move Hinjo's ship? Because he had a Lien on it! As the Giant once again reveals he has been to law school...
That...
that was terrible.

I salute you.

[DreadArchon]

And, thus, The Giant answers questions as to how a paladin could join a group with a Chaotic Evil halfling. Brilliance.

Also, <3 redshirts <3

[Holy_Knight]

So, I was saying to myself yesterday, while thinking of the romance betwixt Elan and Haley, "Self, we know that Elan cares about Haley, it is true, but Haley has always been the pursuer in this little 'ship, and we don't know how Elan really feels. He cares about her, to be sure, but it could be that he's just going along to get along. Not that he'd reject her, because he is attracted and he does care deeply, but her passion for him seems to be the stronger of the two and I wonder if that's going to become an issue at some point in the future. Come to think of it, self, when Haley said that she loved Elan, he didn't say it back. His response was just to kiss her and ask if she wanted to make out. A gag in a comedy, it's true, but is it something about which we Elan-Haley 'shippers should be concerned? Was it a dodge? Is Elan really in love with Haley?"

So, in reading through this thread, I noted that no one has brought it up, and I'd like to call a bit of attention to it.

Strip 468 marks the first time that Elan tells Haley that he really loves her too.

That strikes me as significant for some reason.

I mentioned it on page 3.

[happyturtle]

Elan and Haley look not being able to stop. They're too quick. Who knows, what happened earlier. (In the next strip, Haley will reveal to Belkar that she's pregnant and will ask how to tell Elan this. :smalltongue: )

Way too early. As someone else pointed out, it was only the day before yesterday that they hooked up. Even a Stick of Pregnancy Detection doesn't work that quickly. Perhaps if a cleric cast 'Detect Embryo'?


And I don't think that a girl and a halfling carrying body of Roy will be unnoticed by hobgoblins. I'd rather put both Roy and Belkar into the Bag of Holding (is it possible? maybe with V's help?).

It would not surprise me if V is hanging out by Roy's body hoping that the corpse recovery expedition arrives before the invisibility spell wears off. Otherwise, she'd have no way of knowing where to begin looking for the OOTS.

[Rollin]

That...
that was terrible.

I salute you.

Thanks; I'm sure it was deliberate, though. The man knows (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0278.html) his law (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0282.html).

[Admiral_Kelly]

Haley calling the two soldiers redshirts made my day. I had been calling them redshirts even before that.

[Twilight Jack]

I mentioned it on page 3.

So you did. It got a bit smothered in all the "tramp stamp" jokes and Belkar!Love. I just missed it.

My bad.

[Niteshade]

Awesome comic - a must read. The entire battle for the city has had me on the edge of my seat.

[MR.PIXIE]

Then I thought, "She's gonna swing by the treasury and loot it, isn't she?"

Bets?

Totaly haley-like:smallwink:

[factotum]

Referring to comic 465...does anyone think that "The New Girl" will find Roy's body and raise him to be the powerful undead warrior?

Only about 53 people in the thread for the last strip, and the answer now is the same as it was then--why would she wander some distance (at least a couple of miles, judging from Belkar's comment) outside the city walls to find a corpse when there are thousands of them right next to her?

[mikeejimbo]

Haley says that she moves faster than Durkon or Hinjo.

Why would Hinjo's speed be slower? He's a human, he moves at 30ft/round. If anything, Haley should have mentioned Belkar's speed, since he also only moves at 20ft/round.

[Recursive]

Why would Hinjo's speed be slower?
Heavy armor, presumably.

[DragonTounge]

Wow I wouldn't mind taking some "classes" in biology!!:smallbiggrin:

[David Argall]

we know that Elan cares about Haley, it is true, but Haley has always been the pursuer in this little 'ship, and we don't know how Elan really feels. He cares about her, to be sure, but it could be that he's just going along to get along. Not that he'd reject her, because he is attracted and he does care deeply, but her passion for him seems to be the stronger of the two and I wonder if that's going to become an issue at some point in the future. Come to think of it, when Haley said that she loved Elan, he didn't say it back. His response was just to kiss her and ask if she wanted to make out. A gag in a comedy, it's true, but is it something about which we Elan-Haley 'shippers should be concerned? Was it a dodge? Is Elan really in love with Haley?"

Strip 468 marks the first time that Elan tells Haley that he really loves her too.

That strikes me as significant for some reason.
Probably nothing at all. We don't get anything like their full conversation [which may be just as well unless we want a PG77 rating since they hooked up], so the presumption is that he has said it several times off camera. Any sensible lad would. [OK, we boys are not all that sensible on such points, and Elan is dense even by male standards, but even so...] And Elan has shown affection for Haley in the past. for example http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0200.html


Quote:
Originally Posted by mohair_ninja
Elan and Haley look not being able to stop. They're too quick. Who knows, what happened earlier. (In the next strip, Haley will reveal to Belkar that she's pregnant and will ask how to tell Elan this. )

Way too early. As someone else pointed out, it was only the day before yesterday that they hooked up. Even a Stick of Pregnancy Detection doesn't work that quickly. Perhaps if a cleric cast 'Detect Embryo'?
Varying with the fantasy story, the woman can know before she gets out of bed the next morning. However, it is more likely that we might read in a future comic Haley asking "Why am I suddenly getting seasick now when we have been at sea for over a month?"

And I can't see her telling Belkar anything about anything, much less about a pregnancy. V is a much more likely one to confide in. [Of course I suppose it could happen. Belkar makes some tasteless joke about how she has to be knocked up since Elan has been pounding her so much, and she rolls a one on her bluff check as she desperately denies it.]

Now probably nothing will happen. A pregnancy is rather story-inconvenient. Haley becomes effectively badly wounded and won't be nearly as effective from there on out. She will be carrying the child and later carrying the child. Of course, she is not much of a melee fighter anyway, so its not as bad as it could be. But it's hard to see why she wouldn't get side-lined.

[Twisted Otaku]

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest. Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.


: / He was just really worried about her, afraid he might not see her again due the massive amounts of enemies they have to traverse. They shared panels a comic or two back and no make out fest there. Wouldn't YOU want one last kiss before heading into what may be your doom? anyways without the little make out session there's no set up for either Belkar's fireball joke OR the two redshirts hooking up.

[Zhrec]

Good comic. Also Belkar finally have proper pet. Well if you can call skull a pet....

[Doug Lampert]

Haley says that she moves faster than Durkon or Hinjo.

Why would Hinjo's speed be slower? He's a human, he moves at 30ft/round. If anything, Haley should have mentioned Belkar's speed, since he also only moves at 20ft/round.Belkar has a Barbarian level, he moves at 30ft/round.

[Doug Lampert]

Haley says that she moves faster than Durkon or Hinjo.

Why would Hinjo's speed be slower? He's a human, he moves at 30ft/round. If anything, Haley should have mentioned Belkar's speed, since he also only moves at 20ft/round.Belkar has a Barbarian level, he moves at 30ft/round.

Edit: Hmm, double post. First time that's happened to me on this board.

[Holy_Knight]

So you did. It got a bit smothered in all the "tramp stamp" jokes and Belkar!Love. I just missed it.

My bad.

No prob. The whole "tramp stamp" thing was pretty distracting. :smalltongue:


Varying with the fantasy story, the woman can know before she gets out of bed the next morning.
Or the man can, even! In "The 10th Kingdom", Wolf knows right away that Virginia is pregnant.

Everyone should see "The 10th Kingdom"! It's a really fun story!

And I agree that Haley probably won't become pregnant during the course of the adventure, although it wouldn't surprise me if it happened either at the very end of the series, or in an epilogue.

[Snipers_Promise]

Im glad the redshirts are finally doing something. Good comic rich. And good job bring the mark of justice up again.

[Shatteredtower]

Registered for the forums just so I can be the first to point out the other pun in panel #2. Why couldn't they move Hinjo's ship? Because he had a Lien on it! As the Giant once again reveals he has been to law school...Well spotted, and thank you for pointing it out.

And I still don't see a tattoo, folks. That still looks like clear evidence of half-celestial status to me. :smallwink:

[proplyd]

Aaaaagh! If those red shirts die I'll be so upset! This story just keeps getting better and better! Wheee! Here we go again!

[Rufio]

Heh, that was pretty good. Like Belkars comments in the beginning. I think OOTS will do a lot better w/ :haley: and :elan: together...

[Loyal2NES]

Am I the only one who expected a focus on Miko's (split) body when I saw the title?

[holywhippet]

Good comic today. Nice hint of Haley's tattoo as well. Now - I wasn't interested in reading 8 pages of posts here, but is there any conspiracy theories as to the tattoo itself? Of a nefarious nature, of course?


So far there seem to be two lines of thoughts. One is that it's a heart with an arrow through it. The other is that it's I Heart *name* with the name not being visible. This could indicate Haley had some other crush in the past.




Belkar is, as always, hilarious and showing some good sense in such dire times.

Belkar has clearly shown that he keeps the mark in his thoughts. It should be no surprise that he is cautious about setting it off.


Haley says that she moves faster than Durkon or Hinjo.

Why would Hinjo's speed be slower? He's a human, he moves at 30ft/round. If anything, Haley should have mentioned Belkar's speed, since he also only moves at 20ft/round.

It's possible that Haley has taken the run feat while Hinjo hasn't:

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/feats.htm#run



I'm wondering how things will end up with O'Chul. I was thinking the whole party would head out to grab Roy but instead only Haley and Belkar are. Belkar can't cast spells due to his poor wisdom although it's possible Haley has some items stashed away which she can use (with the right skills). Even if V has headed out to where Roy is, he/she is out of spells. As such, even if they notice O'Chul they won't be able to dispel his paralysis. They might be able to drop him into a bag of holding though.

[AyuVince]

Wondering what a cup of absolutely tastes like.

Vodka?:smallwink:

Absolut NPC-love. *insert funny vodka bottle pic*

That was a cute strip, and much needed after all the suffering and the moral debates. Hooray for the Giant's expertise in storytelling! Someone should hook him up with Hollywood, I'd much rather watch a movie based on a script he wrote than the stuff they show in cinemas right now.

[valis]

I want the panel of :elan: and :haley: w/ the heart above their heads as my avatar.

Oh and Belkar is gonna by it.

[Imrahil]

Am I the only one who expected a focus on Miko's (split) body when I saw the title?

You were, in fact, not the only person to have that assumption. That's what I first thought it was when I checked the page.

[divine]

I totally cannot wait for the next strip! Although they probably won't successfully retrieve the body in just one I still can't wait to see how it goes.. unless we cut to V, which would be ok too if it helped the story ;)

[Tadpole]

This is the first non-depressing comic in a long while! I may hold out hope yet that the things that I love about OOTS are coming back in full force!

[otakuryoga]

hmmmm, the 2 nameless guards just started making plans for the future




that puts the odds of their deaths (one or both) at about 70%
lets hope neither one mentions retiring soon from the Guard.... guarentee of death if that happens

[Surfing HalfOrc]

hmmmm, the 2 nameless guards just started making plans for the future




that puts the odds of their deaths (one or both) at about 70%
lets hope neither one mentions retiring soon from the Guard.... guarentee of death if that happens

And if one of them has a child or younger sister/brother about to go off to college or get married? Plans to buy a boat or travel for lesiure?

I'd love to see them make it. It's so predictable that they will die horribly, so maybe NOT dying will be Rich's unexpected twist.

Spoiler tags. In case Rich comes wandering by...

[Dwarkanath]

When will we know the two redshirt's names? The suspense is killing me!How about Wang and Tsu? :smallwink:

[Ganurath]

How about Wang and Tsu? :smallwink:They're both named Noname. The guy's is pronounced no-NAH-meh, and the girl's is pronounced no-NAY-meh.

[Deathslayer7]

i hope the next comic is about V. I really do wonder what happened to him. My theory. Aliens abducted him!!

[Ganurath]

i hope the next comic is about V. I really do wonder what happened to him. My theory. Aliens abducted him!!Well, the chlorine elemental is arguably extraplanar, but it was ordered to kill all humans.

[starkruzr]

I think one of the funniest parts was that Durkon's accent allows him to use the perfect pronoun for Varsuvius: 'E. It could be He or She, but if you've got the scottish accent, they sound the same!

Well done, Rich! I'm glad to know that Roy's body is getting retreived, though I'm surprised Durkon can raise dead.

For the record, Durkon's accent actually revealed V's gender. We now know at least Durkon thinks he's a he.

Durkon's accent has been more or less thoroughly Scottish since we met him. A Scot would say "she" for "she," not "e."

Think about it: does "e" make any sense if you're chopping off your h's? What about the s?

[factotum]

For the record, Durkon's accent actually revealed V's gender. We now know at least Durkon thinks he's a he.


And what makes you think Durkon knows any more about V's gender than anyone else?

[Cute_Riolu]

Did you even bother to read the rest of the post?

[Scutatus]

V sympathises quite nicely with Haley's wardrobe connundrums and gives relationship advice from the female perspective. But most of all, when they were at the hotel, V shared the bedroom with Haley, not the men, and you got the whole inneundo double entrendre running gag.

Would that have happened if there was really any suspicion V was a guy? Every guy in that room immediately accepted that V was female, despite the previous androgynous gags.

Or did V really pull the ultimate bluff on Haley (and everyone) and got to enjoy a nice strip show that night in the bedroom!?

V must surely be female(?) And if V isn't, surely Haley would have commented on that by now, having shared quarters with V?

I really doubt that there is truly only one female in the Order of the Stick.


Oh, and lust isn't love. Elan and Haley are in love, that much is clear. They were clearly in love long before they started being physically passionate with one another. It's actually not necessary to see it. Rich had already got the point across beautifully and romantically without any in your face graphic stuff. Romance does not necessarily mean graphic sex. (And actually a romance/romantic story is often better without it thank you. We don't need to SEE it to know it's happening. Go back to pulling out of the window please. That was class.)

The Redshirts for their part could just be "turned on," having watched two people ripping each others clothes off and almost making love right in front of them. That's not romance I'm afraid. Just hormones.

[16oz]

My idea for names for the two guards (to help improve their odds of surviving past #475)

Shuiro (japanese for vermillion, a shade of red)
Haori (a type of japanese clothing that accentuates the shoulders)

I tried to find a straight translation for the word shirt, but google failed to give me anything that I could use; if anyone has a better 'name sounding' translation, please speak up! Some NPC's life might depend on it.

Also, a great strip (almost in more ways than one! yikes!). I am looking forward to seeing how Haley and Belkar get along alone. Even with a survival based goal at hand, I just have a hard time seeing Belkar NOT doing something rash.

[Dr. Simon]

I tried to find a straight translation for the word shirt, but google failed to give me anything that I could use;

As it's not a Japanese item of clothing it's probably called some transliteration like "shiato" , "shirutu" or similar.

[SteveMB]

They're both named Noname. The guy's is pronounced no-NAH-meh, and the girl's is pronounced no-NAY-meh.

One hopes that doesn't lead to them calling the whole thing off.

[Toothygrin]

I think one of the funniest parts was that Durkon's accent allows him to use the perfect pronoun for Varsuvius: 'E. It could be He or She, but if you've got the scottish accent, they sound the same.


Actually, if I may interject... 'E' happens to be a gender-neutral pronoun used by the old Lambdamoo software ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LambdaMOO). I wonder if Rich is an old Lambdamoo citizen...?

[shakes019]

One hopes that doesn't lead to them calling the whole thing off.

Heh. Now I've got that stuck in my head.

[MR.PIXIE]

A little excesive on the ''romance'' Rich but other than that LOL:smallbiggrin:

[CatKnight]

UGH.

I really hope this 'retrieval' attempt fails. I liked Roy, but "Raise Dead" et.al. is the bane of any kind of fiction. You can't be heroic if there's nothing at risk except a little gold and/or experience to get him raised.

There's a perfectly good storyline in the works here: Haley learns how to command, and we at least temporarily pick up a paladin. It's time to move on. Let Roy go hang out with dad.

[Shatteredtower]

I really hope this 'retrieval' attempt fails. I liked Roy, but "Raise Dead" et.al. is the bane of any kind of fiction.It can't be a D&D based strip without the option to raise.


You can't be heroic if there's nothing at risk except a little gold and/or experience to get him raised.Nonsense. Keep in mind that raising does takes a heavy toll on the average joe (assuming there's anyone willing to bring him or her back): those 2 points of Constitution are never coming back. That's not an issue for Roy, admittedly, but let's not underestimate what this costs.

First, you try to get Haley to part with 5,000 gp when she's still trying to pool 200,000. Then think about what that might cost you in the long run.

Second, there's the fact that they've still got to retrieve his body, which involves one of those heroic late night rescues. It's no less heroic for the fact that they're retrieving a cadaver instead of rescuing a prisoner. This is not exactly a risk-free operation they've got going there.

Third, there's the most obvious risk: you're out of play. Until your allies can bring you back, you're sitting in the penalty box while your enemies try to score on the power play.

Look how that turned out and tell me there was no risk involved in dying.


There's a perfectly good storyline in the works here...There is the potential for a lot of perfectly good storylines here. Resurrecting Roy, employing a resource established to be part of the setting does not preclude several of them including its use.

It's still time to let the Giant tell his own story.


There's Let Roy go hang out with dad.What did Roy ever do to you, anyway?

[Elcaz]

I absolutely loved this comic. It really made my day, from the Belkar double entendre's to Haley's tatoo to Durkon's accent and finally to the punchline. It was all around goodness and I really don't know how the Giant manages to do this three times a week and still tell a continuos story. Props to you, Giant.

Minor details I don't know if they've already been discussed:

1- Why didn't Hinjo remove the curse right then and there so Haley could go on her own? Plot reasons I guess.

2- Why did we had to go through several panels of Elan and Haley making out? Well, duh, how could you have gotten to that great punchline without those panels?

3- Is the female redshirt the same that got the inspiring speech from Haley? Don't think we'll ever know but I truly hope so.

[Shatteredtower]

1- Why didn't Hinjo remove the curse right then and there so Haley could go on her own? Plot reasons I guess.Sure, but it's also covered adequately by the rules.

To remove the mark, Hinjo would have to be at least 14th, probably 15th level. While mark of justice is a paladin spell, you can be pretty sure that Shojo didn't go to a paladin to have it placed on Belkar, what with having to make it seem that the halfling was still safely locked up. That means it had to have been placed by a cleric of at least 9th level.

A paladin has access to two spells that can remove a mark of justice: break enchantment and remove curse. The problem with the latter spell is that he has to have a caster level equal to or higher than that of the person that placed the mark of justice, and a paladin's caster level is equal to half his paladin levels, which means Hinjo would have to be at least 18th level for that option to work. That seems unlikely, so we're left hoping he's at least 14th level and has an 18 Wisdom (or 15th level with a 14 Wisdom), giving him access to break enchantment. I think that's a long shot, but would it work?

Maybe. The trouble is that break enchantment is also level based -- he'd need to succeed on no less than a DC 20 caster level check, and the odds are against him (1d20+7 = 40% chance of success). That's assuming the caster of the mark of justice was exactly 9th level, however.

Of course, he could go the easy route and have Durkon cast either of these spells, since the dwarf is certainly high enough in level to cast either. Even if he's not high enough in level to use remove curse, he's more likely to succeed with break enchantment. Of course, the Durkon option points to the most obvious reason why Hinjo can't remove the mark right now.

Both he and Durkon didn't prepare that spell. Considering what they were facing that day, I'm not really surprised, you know? :smallwink:

There. Now let's see who answered this before me. :smallbiggrin:

[shakes019]

Nice summary Shatteredtower. The only thing I have to add to that is that even if Durkon had prepared either spell, it's likely that he swapped it out for healing spells, based on Haley's comment from the previous strip.

[Alfryd]

New comic is up.
Not too shabby.


I note that some of you have been referring to Firefly.
*solemn nod*

He's showing a decently high intelligence sometimes, you know?
It's Belkar being both cogent and far-sighted that confuses and frightens me.
It does tend to freeze the blood.

Heh heh..."Durkon needs Roy's body." That made me laugh so hard.
Now somethin' about that's downright unsettlin'.

Okay... I'm good.

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest.
I suspect the whole romance aspect was deliberately overstressed as a build-up to the last gag. I liked it.

I am APPALLED, Elan.
Pulling up Haley's shirt in front of everyone. Good thing Belkar interrupted or you would have been going for it on the floor! SHEESH!!!
Ah, yes. Naked Haley. Dreadful thought.

In the next strip, Haley will reveal to Belkar that she's pregnant and will ask how to tell Elan this.
Because Bitterleaf is of course renowned for his tact, sympathy, and delicacy of expression.
I told you. It's never listed in inventory, but every female adventurer comes with a wand of contraception as standard.

It's something Elan will have to look back on in ten years when Haley's confronting him in curlers demanding he clean up, get a job, and ACT RESPONSIBLE, DAMMIT!
I now shall take a moment to savour the poetic irony of this prospect.
...aaah!
Fine irony.

[shakes019]

It's never listed in inventory, but every female adventurer comes with a wand of contraception as standard.
And every male adventurer comes with a wand of conception.

[David Argall]

On Haley's tattoo, it does not seem to meet the definition of "tramp stamp".

For the common definition, it is in the wrong location, needing to be much lower on the back.

For a culture free definition, the tattoo should be on a part of the anatomy the random male should not be seeing, but is. Thus, it is normally on the part of the back that her pants should be covering [in the opinion of the less fun loving]. For Haley, that would be about anywhere on her midriff.

That bare midriff does bring up a point. Haley is very much in the fashion minority here, perhaps unique if we discount the professionals. I haven't read OPCs, but it might be best if she were from western lands and that style was more common there. [An alternate theory would be that this is deemed a uniform for adventuring females or females associated with adventurers and does not have a direct sexual element. thus http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0122.html ]

[Hushdawg]

UGH.

I really hope this 'retrieval' attempt fails. I liked Roy, but "Raise Dead" et.al. is the bane of any kind of fiction. You can't be heroic if there's nothing at risk except a little gold and/or experience to get him raised.

There's a perfectly good storyline in the works here: Haley learns how to command, and we at least temporarily pick up a paladin. It's time to move on. Let Roy go hang out with dad.

right; because Gandalf coming back from the dead totally ruined LOTR...


[/sarchasm]

[DreadArchon]

An alternate theory would be that this is deemed a uniform for adventuring females or females associated with adventurers and does not have a direct sexual element.
Like chainmail bikinis, only without the MoSi penalty. :smallwink:

[Laman_Stahros]

Nonsense. Keep in mind that raising does takes a heavy toll on the average joe (assuming there's anyone willing to bring him or her back): those 2 points of Constitution are never coming back. That's not an issue for Roy, admittedly, but let's not underestimate what this costs.

Why would Roy lose 2 points of Constitution? Raise Dead doesn't cause a loss of Constitution, it causes a loss of a level (If you can't lose a level, then you lose a point of Constitution). Same with Resurrection, but not with True Res.

[Post]

The constitution loss only comes into effect if you're 1st level.

Imagine the look on Roy's face when he finds out he's a lower level than Elan.

[Woof]

And I was honestly hoping we could go a few strips that featured both Haley and Elan without it turning into a make out fest. Cripes, we get it, they're in a relationship. We don't need to be hit over the head with it every time the two share panel space.

Meh, got to agree. I don't care much for endless smooch panels either.

[Nightwing]

I hope we get to see more of the NPC's.

[factotum]

Why would Roy lose 2 points of Constitution? Raise Dead doesn't cause a loss of Constitution, it causes a loss of a level (If you can't lose a level, then you lose a point of Constitution). Same with Resurrection, but not with True Res.

Loss of a level is still going to be a big problem for Roy--he was obviously no match for Xykon even at the level he was, so losing one is just going to set him back that much further in the race. In a way, he'd be better off coming back as a positive energy spirit like Soon, although with no Smite Evil he'd have a harder time anyway...

[Shatteredtower]

Why would Roy lose 2 points of Constitution?I wrote that that was only a problem (but a big one) for the average joe. I apologize for not making it clearer that Roy is not your average joe. Or average Roy.

However, 1st level characters lose 2, not 1, point of Constitution. It was a 1 point lost back in 1st and 2nd Ed, assuming you made your Resurrection Survival check (which became less and less likely per raising), and that applied regardless of how high your level was.

Is it better this way? Well... it wasn't like either method made a raised person reexamine their life to date and decide to retire from adventuring, so the method more likely to leave them viable participants in the game is probably to be preferred. :smallwink:

[Bel_Bel]

That was awesome! :smallbiggrin:

[Keldin]

This one killed me -- the selfishness of Belkar always cracks me up. On another note, I think that V's gender is still up in the air, as many languages use the male pronouns as a "default" setting. As for the romance, I like it -- it's nice to see that sort of thing even though things have been pretty grim lately.

[Lolzords]

But thats still sterotypical. Redshirts are supposed to die, they are cannon fodder. Therefore the two of them surviving and living out reasonably happy lives is the most anti-sterotypical they can possibly be.

Yeah, but since when has OOTS ever been stereotypical?