OOTS #943 - The Discussion Thread

[SteveDJ]

Already TL;DR

It feels like the next-to-last frame is a bit off. Shouldn't Elan have turned to look behind him? It feels odd otherwise... worse because his expression didn't even change from the frame before, either.

I guess I could've counted -- frame 10 for those that prefer that format.

[ti'esar]

Already TL;DR

It feels like the next-to-last frame is a bit off. Shouldn't Elan have turned to look behind him? It feels odd otherwise... worse because his expression didn't even change from the frame before, either.

The implication is that he knew perfectly well that Julio was still there.

[Angel Bob]

Neatly wrapping up the "but Julio can just return and solve all their problems later too!" crowd.

Don't let the royal 'we' fool you -- David Argall does not comprise multiple people.

[DaggerPen]

I haven't gone over the thread yet, but I just wanted to say that I guess from V talking to Roy below deck that V is confessing to Familicide right now. Wonder how much of that we'll get to see.

[Amphiox]

Doubly hilarious because Elan just had a major life experience learning about the pitfalls of forcing narrative in the extreme. A nice reminder that he's still Elan, and totally willing to force a dramatic parting narrative with his mentor!

Elan learned that if he has to choose between forcing narrative and doing the right thing by other people, he will choose the people. But when he doesn't have to make that kind of choice to play with the narrative? Well then it's no contest....

Oh, come on! You're not going to show us V's confession? It's happening offscreen? I've been waiting for that for something like a year or more!

Really hoping we get to see something of that in the next few strips.

I always assumed it would be off-screen. Because we, the audience, don't need to see V describing what she did, as we've already seen it, and we also don't need to see V describing the aftermath with respect to his own feelings and character growth, because we've already seen that too. All we need to see is Roy's reaction, and that can be seen in the panels after the off-screen reveal.

Don't let the royal 'we' fool you -- David Argall does not comprise multiple people.

He is legion!

Or at least, so he claims!

[Gamgee]

The quirks of being around bards.

[zimmerwald1915]

I always assumed it would be off-screen. Because we, the audience, don't need to see V describing what she did, as we've already seen it, and we also don't need to see V describing the aftermath with respect to his own feelings and character growth, because we've already seen that too. All we need to see is Roy's reaction, and that can be seen in the panels after the off-screen reveal.

Plus if we never see it on-panel those of us who want to can pretend it never happened, and that Roy's obvious reactions to it are just based on observations and deductions he made on his own

[MrMercury]

How did Julio voice the tilde when he said "~Julio"?
EDIT: corrected spelling

[Kislath]

HAHAHAHAHA!!

"is he also busting---

Probably not, no."

The voiceover gag! HAHAHAHA!!

[Rodin]

The implication is that he knew perfectly well that Julio was still there.

I actually think this is a re-visit of the "Elan not noticing people standing behind him, even when directly told about them" gag. Rather than turning around and actually saying what he wanted to say, Elan instead launches into his lament of not being able to talk to Julio.

That's why Haley is annoyed.

[Gamgee]

How did Julio voice the tilde when he sad "~Julio"?

Hey kid stop with those questions. They really wreck the walls around here. Especially the 4th.

[MrMercury]

Hey kid stop with those questions. They really wreck the walls around here. Especially the 4th.

Heh, I've read the start of darkness.
Great book. Perhaps a mistake to read it before I read the main OOTS comic, because now I sympathize with redcloak too much
EDIT:
But really, how did he voice the tilde? I'm interested because it interupted the monologue in my head

[ChristianSt]

How did Julio voice the tilde when he said "~Julio"?

The same way he pronounced all those "."'s , ","'s and the "?"

[MrMercury]

The same way he pronounced all those "."'s , ","'s and the "?"

Well that could be pronounced through pauses and intonation, because Grammar still exists when we speak out loud.
The tilde, on the other hand, has no way of being intoned or implied

[oppyu]

Well that could be pronounced through pauses and intonation, because Grammar still exists when we speak out loud.
The tilde, on the other hand, has no way of being intoned or implied

Clearly Elan and Julio have established a complex series of clicks and whistles to communicate various nonverbal punctuation marks in dramatic monologues.

[MrMercury]

Clearly Elan and Julio have established a complex series of clicks and whistles to communicate various nonverbal punctuation marks in dramatic monologues.

Ah, of course! It must be part of the Dashing Swordsman training

[ChristianSt]

Well that could be pronounced through pauses and intonation, because Grammar still exists when we speak out loud.
The tilde, on the other hand, has no way of being intoned or implied

Maybe Dashing Swordsmans are able to use pauses to imply "~"'s?

[MrMercury]

Maybe Dashing Swordsmans are able to use pauses to imply "~"'s?

Perhaps. Maybe it's the echo from his voice in the can?
I wonder if Rich will give us an explanation...

[Jordan Cat]

Haley, you spoiled their Dramatic Moment

[Bulldog Psion]

How did Julio voice the tilde when he said "~Julio"?
EDIT: corrected spelling

In the Stickverse, a tilde is indicated in verbal conversation by a strange, gargling howl combined with an undulating wheeze lasting precisely 5.5122393 seconds. However, Rich decided that was too difficult to transcribe, so he just used the tilde.

Before you ask the questions, be sure that you want to know the answers.

[MrMercury]

In the Stickverse, a tilde is indicated in verbal conversation by a strange, gargling howl combined with an undulating wheeze lasting precisely 5.5122393 seconds. However, Rich decided that was too difficult to transcribe, so he just used the tilde.

Before you ask the questions, be sure that you want to know the answers.

Why would I not want to know that answer?

[David Argall]

What can happen to retired mentors is precisely why Julio is making exit plans.

He made exit plans before. Didn't stick, did they? Why should these stick?

There's nothing to suggest that the world on the other side of the rift is a plane itself and even if it is that anyone has access to it.

Everything is a plane in D&D. Some planes vary in size, but we start with the prime material, and work out from there. As to access, a lot of planes are inaccessable, until... Scoundrel finds a sign saying "do not enter. Very dangerous", or "Keep out. Private harem/treasury of Lord Jerk the Rich/lusty." or we just have an accidental wormhole leading into it, or ... We just need a magic dohickey and in he goes.

As for having better reasons, Julio's arrival was foreshadowed.

When Elan has to identify it in text as foreshadowing, it is rather feeble foreshadowing.

If you see foreshadowing of Julio showing up after he's out of the picture this time around then feel free to point it out. Until that happens you've got nothing.

Which would be what we had with Scoundrel the last time, and far stronger reason to believe he was not coming back.

You're just making leaps to fit your version of the story.

Not really. I don't expect him back, just like I didn't before. What I am saying is that there is no valid reason to say he is not coming back.

[gorocz]

Am I the only one who interpreted Julio's "long overdue vacation in… Arborea" as meaning that he is expecting not merely to retire, but to die? His Chaos Sabre won't be of much use to him in that case, and his questing days will certainly be behind him.

I actually thought the same thing for a while, but he's CN. But then again, it wouldn't surprise me that Chaotic Outer Planes aren't very strict with who visits - meaning that even if you're CN, you can go to Arborea for a while and relax (or any other chaotic Outer Plane, for any reason) before going to Limbo for the rest of your afterlife. I certainly wouldn't expect some strict evaluation-based entrance system like Celestia has... Though I think it's much more likely he's going to travel the planes alive, but I still wouldn't expect resistence in there from the natives as long as he's not killing people mindlessly...

---

And regarding the sabre - it's good thing he got it. They're gonna be venturing into a dungeon that was supposed to be full of tough creatures and that Xykon/RC got into before them. And with Xykon's penchant for zombifying everything, it is a good idea to have a slashing weapon since even with a +5 Rapier, Elan would do only 1d6 (+ his not very good STR modifier, since zombies are probably immune to puns) damage on a hit to even the most basic zombie - basic zombies have DR 5/slashing (and are immune to criticals, which makes rapiers, with a low basic damage range, non-DR-bypassing damage type and a good, but useless, critical range, about as useless as a weapon gets.

[Smolder]

Great, Elan got a weapon upgrade.

Hopefully, Belkar will also get a weapon upgrade, by picking up Tarquin's dagger. He still has his old ones in the first panel.


Also, No, Julio's not dying. Arborea is a perfectly typical area for an adventurer of Julio's level to go solo'ing. Remember the Evil adventuring party raiding Celestia?

[Jay R]

It feels like the next-to-last frame is a bit off. Shouldn't Elan have turned to look behind him? It feels odd otherwise... worse because his expression didn't even change from the frame before, either.

I assume that, as a bard, he is refusing to let Haley's reveal interfere with his "I was too late to say good-bye" monologue.

Julio is using that can for a reason, after all.

But really, how did he voice the tilde?

Rather poorly, I'm afraid. Julio has a strong accent.

[Dracon1us]

I haven't gone over the thread yet, but I just wanted to say that I guess from V talking to Roy below deck that V is confessing to Familicide right now. Wonder how much of that we'll get to see.

that's the elephant in the room

I guess that's too big a thing to hide from the rest of the party
will they vote to cast V. away?

how can Roy use effectively V. without the fiends abuse his\her time?

it's all laugh now...but reality will sink in all too soon

[Faramir]

Beautiful. Just beautiful.

[Sir_Leorik]

Great, Elan got a weapon upgrade.

Hopefully, Belkar will also get a weapon upgrade, by picking up Tarquin's dagger. He still has his old ones in the first panel.

Tarquin's dagger is too big for Belkar to use.

[zimmerwald1915]

I guess that's too big a thing to hide from the rest of the party
will they vote to cast V. away?

Who says there's going to be a vote? The only time I can remember the Order do anything resembling voting, the point was to legitimize and let them all buy into a decision Roy had already made and wasn't going to change.

[EccentricFellow]

Wahahahahahahaha. That was priceless. It worked perfectly.