Comic 309 - Haley's Secrets

[Xeo_Boy]

Call me pathetic, but I actually sat down and translated Haley's speech in this comic, and I was surprised by a few jokes on Rich's behalf. I used the translation on other times she had spoken, and it doesn't seem to fit. I think Mr. Burlew chose a different scramble every comic. Still, this one had the information I wanted to know, so here it is:

Panels are A, B, C, D down, and 1, 2, 3 across. I've written out the text of the entire frame to put it into context.

Panel A3:
Haley: [Translation] Elan, I'm in love with you.
Elan: Oooo! They have calamari!

Panel B2:
Haley: [Translation] Elan, I'm in love with you. Completely in love.
Elan: I'll get the chicken.
Haley: [Translation] Love, love, love, love!
Elan: I think "rdjy" means "salad."

Panel C1:
Haley: [Translation] My dad is being held random by an evil dictator.
Elan: Look! The salt and pepper shakers are fighting!
Haley: [Translation] I'm not really in the Thieve's* Guild anymore.

*This word was actually Thievks', but I'm guessing that's a typo on Rich's part.

Panel C3:
Haley: [Translation] I cheat at solitaire.
Haley: [Translation] I have a tattoo you've never seen.
Haley: [Translation] I kissed a girl once.
Haley: [Translation] OK, OK, more than once!

Panel D2:
Haley: [Translation] Elan, it turns out I may not be exactly what you would call-
Elan: Don't you think our waitress is pretty, Haley?


So, yeah, that's the whole strip. I'm wondering if this is going to get pulled or not- I don't think it should be, considering that he basically gives you the key himself.

Anyways, enjoy folks! I know I did. And now, of course, I'm dying to know what the last part of that sentence is.

[Invisible Queen]

Could the missing word be anything other than "heterosexual"? :)

A+ for effort, though it's been done before and for every one of Haley's scrambled lines. :x

[Zerkai]

I already looked that stuff up. You know, you see that tattoo in the comic. When they share that make out scene before they part ways. It was on her back, and it looked like the Skull of Fear and Fire was looking at it.

[Regneva]

Just so you know, this "translation" came out the second minute the strip came out. As did all the other cryptogram strips.

The missing word subject has been discussed to death several times with ideas ranging from "Human" to "Girl" to "Good" to "Alive" and even to "Real".

I'm sure you'll find a lot more if you use the search function of the forums.

[Xeo_Boy]

Just so you know, this "translation" came out the second minute the strip came out. As did all the other cryptogram strips.

The missing word subject has been discussed to death several times with ideas ranging from "Human" to "Girl" to "Good" to "Alive" and even to "Real".

I'm sure you'll find a lot more if you use the search function of the forums.

Yeah, I figured this was the case. In my defense, I couldn't make the search function work.

[FrostXian]

These were ALSO given in the book.

[Max_Sinister]

My bet is on something like "good person". And I think she's referring to the fact that she has cheated the party for money. On the one hand, this should be the most obvious thing, but OTOH, sometimes the obvious is the last thing one thinks of.

[Solmage]

trustworthy (as in won't steal your loot) was an old favorite

But .. I personally think that it's 'natural red-head' since Sabine did call her a dye-job and that drove her up the wall.

[factotum]

These were ALSO given in the book.

Which book would that be, considering No Cure For the Paladin Blues ends on strip 300 and he's talking about strip 309?

[The_Cardinal]

Haley: [Translation] My dad is being held random by an evil dictator.

I feel sorry for Haleys dad. My girlfriend holds me random too. Someone should organise a support group.:smallfrown:

[Max_Sinister]

trustworthy (as in won't steal your loot) was an old favorite

But .. I personally think that it's 'natural red-head' since Sabine did call her a dye-job and that drove her up the wall.

Improbable - when she is shown as a goth, she has black-dyed hair, but still with red roots. Trustworthy isn't too bad. But I'm still not 100% sure.

[Catch]

Wouldn't the other members of the Stick already know that Haley isn't the most trustworthy? Considering how many jokes have been made of her "all for me" take on treasure, it's pretty well established that she's greedy, just not why.

[Tal9922]

Wouldn't the other members of the Stick already know that Haley isn't the most trustworthy? Considering how many jokes have been made of her "all for me" take on treasure, it's pretty well established that she's greedy, just not why.

You know, it's not so crazy to go out and say that some of the character's qualities DON'T originates from some childhood experience or some other obscure reason, and is simply the nature of that person.

In other words, she's just a greedy person.

[Catch]

You know, it's not so crazy to go out and say that some of the character's qualities DON'T originates from some childhood experience or some other obscure reason, and is simply the nature of that person.

In other words, she's just a greedy person.

No, it's not particularly crazy, but in this case it's been established that Haley is stockpiling gold to pay her father's ransom, only pretending that it's all for herself.

[Porthos]

No, it's not particularly crazy, but in this case it's been established that Haley is stockpiling gold to pay her father's ransom, only pretending that it's all for herself.

Origins Spoiler:

She originally planned to then dock him 10% of all future earnings as a "small price to pay" for his freedom. So she wasn't entirely forgetting her Greed Gene. :smalltongue:

[dragongirl13]

That last word can be many things.


POSSIBLE WORDS:

Straight
Good
Normal
Well-intentioned
Kind
Smart
Human

To name a few.

[Solmage]

Improbable - when she is shown as a goth, she has black-dyed hair, but still with red roots. Trustworthy isn't too bad. But I'm still not 100% sure.

I agree, but then normally someone saying something like 'dye-job' and you defending it so vehemently shouldn't affect you. It could be something she always hid...

Ehh, it's thin. But it's the closest to a really well hidden secret we've been hinted at.


But perhaps she was going to say 'a virgin' which would also make a lot of sense

[mockingbyrd7]

Remember that for the last missing word, she thought "not even V knows that one" so it's probably not something like
"kind or smart or trustworthy", or anything personality-wise. More likely it's something more along the lines of "human".

[Edea]

I also immediately got the "maybe she's not human" vibe when I was translating that portion of the cryptogram. It's the first word that came to mind upon thinking about what to fill the blank with. But, there are so many other plausible words; we simply don't know enough yet.

[Haruki-kun]

I translated the later comic........... 393 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0393.html)

Anyway......... I'm pretty fixed on the idea that Haley might not be exactly human. I think she's somehow a Celestial, or half a Celestial or something.

Why? Two reasons:
1) Then she would be truly Sabine's opposite.
2) Have we met her mother yet? We saw her father in a Flashback during the Dungeon of Dorukan Arc but what about her mother?

[kabbor]

Considering where she is right now,this could be an important plot point. My money is on "Good": I suggest that Haley has been busted back to CN due to some action on her part - possible linked to her no longer being in the Thieves Guild.
At some time in the clean-up of azure city, a goblin cleric is going to do a 'detect good'- Belkar is going to be surprised when Haley does not light up like a Christmas tree.
Elan's reaction to this - well, some readers do tend to like "Character Development".

[Draz74]

Considering where she is right now,this could be an important plot point. My money is on "Good": I suggest that Haley has been busted back to CN due to some action on her part - possible linked to her no longer being in the Thieves Guild.
At some time in the clean-up of azure city, a goblin cleric is going to do a 'detect good'- Belkar is going to be surprised when Haley does not light up like a Christmas tree.
Elan's reaction to this - well, some readers do tend to like "Character Development".

Nah, I don't think "good" was it. For one thing, she wouldn't care about keeping that a secret from V, if V is Neutral like I think. Also, in 393, if you translate, she says, "I'm Chaotic Good! Ish!" (After Elan asks her, "This ... isn't true, is it? He's just making it up?") The "Ish" part is just there because her lack of self-confidence is so high, at this point, that she can't even think of herself as a good person, even if she's technically Good in the alignment rules.

Also, see 212 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0212.html), the beginning of 417 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0417.html), or panels 3 and 4 of 475 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0475.html). I think she's easily Good.

[Ceaon]

I translated the later comic........... 393 (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0393.html)

Anyway......... I'm pretty fixed on the idea that Haley might not be exactly human. I think she's somehow a Celestial, or half a Celestial or something.

Why? Two reasons:
1) Then she would be truly Sabine's opposite.
2) Have we met her mother yet? We saw her father in a Flashback during the Dungeon of Dorukan Arc but what about her mother?

Seconded. Also, spoiler box it, please, it's speculation.

[waffletaco]

speculation
wouldn't her natural hair color be blond? Her child self had blond hair right?

[Brauley]

speculation
wouldn't her natural hair color be blond? Her child self had blond hair right?

This is possible. Some people's hair colour changes over the course of their childhood. My brother used to have dark sort of blonde hair but now it is dark brown

[ref]

Which book would that be, considering No Cure For the Paladin Blues ends on strip 300 and he's talking about strip 309?

War and XP's, of course.

[Caleniel]

speculation
wouldn't her natural hair color be blond? Her child self had blond hair right?

No, that wasn't her child self. It was her innocence.

Because we blonds are pure and innocent by nature, known fact.

:smalltongue:

[magic9mushroom]

If she didn't tell V, then odds are it's something that's a) easily concealable, and b) something to be kept VERY quiet. Given V's gender stuff, I doubt Haley's sexuality is it.

My guess is that the word is "human", and that she's a tiefling. We haven't seen any tieflings so far AFAIK, and that could make her Sabine's opposite if she's part devil (assuming Sabine is a demon, other way round if not).

[Rotipher]

Wouldn't the other members of the Stick already know that Haley isn't the most trustworthy? Considering how many jokes have been made of her "all for me" take on treasure, it's pretty well established that she's greedy, just not why.



My guess? Given how much of Haley's internal insecurities we'd witnessed in the course of her speech impediment, I'd say the thing she was on the verge of admitting she is not, is: "confident". Why do I think so? Because not being confident is precisely why it was so hard for her to come out and say it!

[Kroy]

War and XP's, of course.

No. War and XP did not come out until a little under a year after that was posted.

[Morthis]

War and XP's, of course.

This is a thread resurrection from 2007, it predates War and XP.

Although on that topic, do the comic books actually have translations of that stuff? I wasted some time translating a few comics for fun (I'm not sure if all of them even can be translated), but the key seems to change every comic so I got tired of it quickly.

[David Argall]

do the comic books actually have translations of that stuff? I wasted some time translating a few comics for fun (I'm not sure if all of them even can be translated), but the key seems to change every comic so I got tired of it quickly.
W&XP, p. 311

[Silverraptor]

Remember that for the last missing word, she thought "not even V knows that one" so it's probably not something like
"kind or smart or trustworthy", or anything personality-wise. More likely it's something more along the lines of "human".

Hey I know what sub-species she could be! It's mentioned in this comic here: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0131.html
...
(sarcasm)