Interview Rich, Part 2

[Gusion]

So a year ago I started a thread about interviewing Rich and, to many people's surprise, he responded.

I thought I'd try again. This time I did want to suggest a few guidelines, based off of last year. Aside from the usual rules, the only new one is that please do not ask about plot or other in-comic character specific stuff. From what I can tell, he isn't going to answer them so don't bother.

Otherwise, please feel free to leave your questions and he might answer the better ones! I will add mine as a comment too.

Cheers!

[Gusion]

So, Rich, it certainly seems like the Sapphire Guard are some variation of Asian. What was your inspiration for this? Does this decision impact your view on them in any greater way or is mostly incidental?

Specifically, are you a kimchi fan... or was it more of a "check wikipedia to get some details" but you're not especially a fan of the stuff yourself?

[ti'esar]

What's your visual design process (if any) for minor background characters? People like the bodyguards at the Godsmoot often have interesting character designs that help give them more of a presence in the minds of readers despite their lack of screen time or story relevance, and I'm wondering what goes into coming up with them.

[littlebum2002]

It seems like he's been hella busy lately, so I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't have time to answer questions right now, but I'll be optimistic and ask anyway:

How long did you spend researching Norse mythology to come up with all the gods and demigods at the moot? Must have taken forever.

[Gift Jeraff]

.....................................
I don't read the forum anymore

[Peelee]

What're your thoughts on Episode VII?

Worth a shot.

[BaronOfHell]

I really enjoy the dialogue of the IFCC, are there some characters you enjoy writing the dialogue of more than others?

[JustinKase]

With the potential 'end' coming, might there be a followup series going into some of the other interesting aspects of your world?

[Laurana]

EDIT: I just read the previous Interview thread, so now I know my question was even more pointless than I thought.

I'll just take the opportunity to say I really, really love OOTS, so thanks for that! :smallsmile:

[Darth Paul]

I just popped in to say; You're awesome, Rich. I don't think that's said enough in the forum. You've done things with a stick-figure comic that they tried and failed to do with big-budget Hollywood movies.

Mentioning Hollywood does bring a question to my mind, though: is there a possibility of an OOTS animated adaptation sometime in the future?

[PoeticDwarf]

.....................................

And where did he say this... on the forum. Still, he isn't responding :)

[littlebum2002]

.....................................

Yeah, that's what I was trying to get at.



And where did he say this... on the forum. Still, he isn't responding :)

If you go in Gift's quote, and click the little double arrow next to The Giant's name, it will send you to that post in the forum!

[Sylian]

Is Vaarsuvius' name inspired by Vesuvius, the volcano?

[Peelee]

Is Vaarsuvius' name inspired by Vesuvius, the volcano?

As opposed to the band?

[Gray Mage]

Is Vaarsuvius' name inspired by Vesuvius, the volcano?

Considering his second evil mirror from Nale's team is named Pompeii, I'd say that chances are high.

[grandpheonix]

Whats your favorite thing to do? I looooove your comic!

[DaggerPen]

Well, worth a shot - which character has changed most from your original conception of them? Have any of them veered wildly off course from your original ideas, or do they mostly stay fairly close to how you'd originally thought of them?

[Sylian]

Considering his second evil mirror from Nale's team is named Pompeii, I'd say that chances are high.... I've been reading Pompey's name with the wrong word stress all this time, haven't I? That pretty much confirms my suspicion, then. It's rather fitting though, isn't it? Most of the time V lies dormant and doesn't really wreak havoc, but once in a while they erupt (like a volcano), eliminating your whole living family line.

[Reddish Mage]

You can't expect an author to pop in here on more than a random basis. However, what we can do is compile the list of questions the community votes and decides we MOST WANT TO ASK. Keep the list...it would be very tempting...

[Peelee]

You can't expect an author to pop in here on more than a random basis. However, what we can do is compile the list of questions the community votes and decides we MOST WANT TO ASK. Keep the list...it would be very tempting...

I think keeping a list of the questions that the community most wants to ask would be a terrible idea, because on the very low chance the Giant reads this thread, much less decides to respond, the questions he'll answer won't be the ones we want to ask most, but the ones he wants to reply to most.

[Jasdoif]

Well, worth a shot - which character has changed most from your original conception of them? Have any of them veered wildly off course from your original ideas, or do they mostly stay fairly close to how you'd originally thought of them?According to a post last year....

...And as far as whether or not characters accomplished their job in the narrative or not, well, I usually have a pretty good idea of where things are going with a new character before they step on the page.

I guess the closest thing I can think of to the situation you're talking about is Miko. When I first introduced her, the interaction between her and Roy was supposed to be light and flirty. But within just a few strips of writing her dialogue, it became clear that she was a far more serious and determined character (and also that she wouldn't know how to flirt if her life depended on it). So I simply dropped that aspect from the story; it didn't change the plot really, just some of the surface interactions. But I would never say that I disliked Miko, just that she ended up being a slightly different person than I first imagined—and I think what ended up on the page is better than it would have been the other way. So it all works out.

The only other example I can think of other than that is Kilkil, who was introduced with the hope that he would have some spotlight moments further on in the book. But as the action moved to Girard's pyramid, it became clear that there was too much story left for the amount of book remaining. Given that I didn't really have anything specific blocked out—just something like, "And then Kilkil does something interesting"—I just dropped it and let him stay a less-developed character.

[DaggerPen]

According to a post last year....

Oh, thank you, kind banana! :)

[Mightymosy]

Well, at least now we know he is reading the forum after all.:smallsmile:

[Ron Miel]

Well, at least now we know he is reading the forum after all.:smallsmile:

Well, he was reading it last year. Sometimes.

But he doesn't anymore.


I don't read the forum anymore

[Mightymosy]

Well, he was reading it last year. Sometimes.

But he doesn't anymore.

He does! Otherwise how would he have locked a thread today?

[Cazero]

He does! Otherwise how would he have locked a thread today?

I'm quite sure moderator tools include some links so they don't have to dig deep in a pile of 25 pages long threads. The action of locking the thread implies that moderation happened. Need I say more?

[anjxed]

Since he said that he doesnt read the forum anymore other than the first few posts of the new comic thread... Lets ask our questions there!

[Chambers]

Since he said that he doesnt read the forum anymore other than the first few posts of the new comic thread... Lets ask our questions there!

Mod of the Broken Pattern: Please don't. Remember the one thread, one topic rule. The new comics thread are about the new comic, not a thread to post interview questions for Rich.

[Reddish Mage]

Might I point out the post immediately shows that Rich is not only reading, but he also has taken enough of an interest to promote people to read. If you doubt Rich is reading and posting though...you just have to look at his profile, or read the Index.



I think keeping a list of the questions that the community most wants to ask would be a terrible idea, because on the very low chance the Giant reads this thread, much less decides to respond, the questions he'll answer won't be the ones we want to ask most, but the ones he wants to reply to most.

So? It puts a convenient list up of questions people want asked, and you can't expect an author to do more than answer the questions he chooses to answer...especially as people tend to ask questions that invite spoilers or that he has decided to be purposefully obscure about such as these:

"What is Vaarsuvius' Gender?"
"Is Belkar really going to die and will it be permanent?"
"What creature-type is the Monster in the Darkness"

Those are probably the top three questions. The Giant occasionally decides to tease something about it and sometimes contradicts himself. For example, I think at one point he responded to the question "Does V have a gender" with "yes" which implied V did have an explicit gender (and also implied such on numerous occasions), but also listed in a tweet that V was genderqueer (which suggests that V actually rejects the concept of gender). However, he has said on occasion that he doesn't play for keeps on the forums (at least not all the time), but as fans of the comic, I like to read his posts from time to time just to see it as an extension of the entertainment and occasional enlightenment I get from the webcomic.

Plenty of questions we have (even recently) received definite answers to.

I would like to ask Could V might transgender, intersex or have some other non-binary gender identity?

I think it was asked but I can't seem to find V gender quotes up on the Index.

[Jasdoif]

I think it was asked but I can't seem to find V gender quotes up on the Index.V is identified as genderqueer in the commentary to Blood Runs in the Family. The Index specifically does not include quotes from "Rich's commentary in books or in any medium that cannot be legally accessed for free", which is why there's no entry for it there.

[Reddish Mage]

Ah right, but I recall the quote is a little glib there, as it lists the entire order by racial and other purposefully funkiest identities, I recall its something to the order that, "[Tarquin] is the old white man that can't stand that the blond boy takes the supporting role in a party lead by a black man, co-helmed by a woman, along with a bald midget, a dwarf, and a genderqueer." It seemed aimed at accentuating a contrast to Tarquin...

Except Tarquin's/Nale's party is half-dark-skinned, contains a highly-educated albino lizard, and at times contained a winged-kobold accountant, a yellow-skinned cat girl, and had an afro-haired paragon of sexiness.

I think OOTS cast is diverse all-around - Team Evil is a fancy clothed Lich, an idealistic goblin, a uniquely hard-to-identify creature (ooh he and V share something in common), and wise-cracking cockroaches.

[Gift Jeraff]

The exact quote is "Tarquin is [...] symbolic of an older time when stories were likely to be more formulaic or cliched--and less diverse." Emphasis mine. So he does not say that Tarquin is literally supposed to be racist or speciesist (definitely sexist, though*). He also goes on to refer to Roy, Haley, V, and Julio as "the black man, the woman, the genderqueer person, and [...] the Latino guest star." Since Julio is neither an actual Latino (because Latin America doesn't exist in the OOTSiverse) nor an actual guest star, I'm not sure how literal the sentence is meant to be taken.

*Going off on a tangent, I'm pretty sure Tarquin never even considered the possibility that Haley was second-in-command (since he assumed that Elan would become the leader after Roy's death).


He does! Otherwise how would he have locked a thread today?
Maybe. The thread he locked could have caught his attention because the title was a dead giveaway that it probably trailed off into morally justified territory. Or someone reported it.

I just get a rather absolute impression from his "I don't read the forum anymore" comment and feel like the premise of this thread might come off as pressuring him to do something he doesn't want to do (though that definitely isn't OP's intent).

[Reddish Mage]

Eh, his blood boils at some things occasionally from time to time and he takes a hiatus. But try as you might, the forums suck you in, waste your time, prevents you from getting work done...the more you try to avoid it the more you are called back...

But now I'm just talking about me.

[Ruck]

Well, since this thread is still open, just in case: Has Rich ever seen The Shield? If not, I'd like to recommend it to him (and anyone else) as a master work in dramatic storytelling.

[Reddish Mage]

Oh every show in the world, why would you recommend "The SHIELD?" now, and is there a particular you are recommending that to Rich specifically?

[Ruck]

Oh every show in the world, why would you recommend "The SHIELD?" now, and is there a particular you are recommending that to Rich specifically?

Well, I think I answered "why" in general. Why now? I dunno, because I'm here and this thread is open.

Why to Rich specifically? Having read some of the things he's written about how great drama comes from turning up the pressure on your characters, taking away their easy choices, and forcing them to decide now, and how they reveal who they are in that decision, I think he would find The Shield (not to be confused with Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., to be clear) to be very rewarding, as I think it does this better than any television show ever has.

In other words, I recommend The Shield because I think it's great for many of the same reasons I think The Order of the Stick is great. Sure, one is a fantasy webcomic that uses D&D 3.5 rules, and the other is a TV series about corrupt cops in Los Angeles in the early 2000s, but I find that as I've gotten older and more and more am simply interested in great stories, distinctions like that don't matter as much anymore. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0606.html)

LATE EDIT: Also, like OOTS, The Shield has a simple and straightforward visual style that can make it easy to overlook the richness of character work and the potency of the plotting therein.

[Magesmiley]

Of the various monsters that you've drawn OOTS-style, which one(s) did you enjoy drawing the most?

[Vinyadan]

Have you ever seen the rain coming down on a sunny day?

[littlebum2002]

When Xykon finally dies, will the strip be titled "Roy's got 99 problems but a lich ain't one"?