OOTS #1244 - The Discussion Thread

[CountDVB]

"Quiet, unidentified creature!" (Haley rocks!)

Given her smug overconfidence ("stand still, children while I absolutely annihilate you! I'msoawesome!"), I wouldn't be surprised if she'd believed that she'll never get mixed up in melee, and consequently, investing resources into that would be tantamount to wasting those resources.

Well, I guess her smug overconfidence gives some credence that she has the same flaw as the rest of the Scribblers then. Wonder how this will play out.

I imagine she’ll try airing her grievances on them, but may not work due to character development and or the fact the team knows stuff she doesn’t.

[pendell]

Genius on Haley's part.

So .. um, fight's over? Or is this just a pause? Sunny can't attack Haley without hitting Serini also. Are we going to dialog and negotiate now or will Serini resume the fight, now that the order is back on its feet and spread throughout the room so they won't easily fit in a single AMF cone?

For that matter, Sunny looks like ze's taken some damage; I see scratches and arrows sticking out. I'm not sure if this is at all a winnable fight any more from Serini's perspective. She's lost the element of surprise and invisibility, and now the PC mage and fighter are back on their feet. Time for a contingency teleport out and try again, I think.

ETA: I think there's a bit of hypocrisy in that last panel. If she needs to concentrate , why is she reading a magazine while performing the task requiring focus?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[Peelee]

The version I heard of it as verb meant to go back and forth on issues, changing your mind over and over. "The politician waffled on his support of the bill" or something.

The dictionary recognizes neither of those interpretations, so I guess we are equally accurate. :D

Dictionaries do not dictate what words mean. They reflect how words are used at the time. This means they are not infallible. One definition of "waffle", as a verb, is indeed to change mind back and forth.

[Ralanr]

I wonder if they make fiber supplements in this setting. They've done me wonders.

[danielxcutter]

Genius on Haley's part.

So .. um, fight's over? Or is this just a pause? Sunny can't attack Haley without hitting Serini also. Are we going to dialog and negotiate now or will Serini resume the fight, now that the order is back on its feet and spread throughout the room so they won't easily fit in a single AMF cone?

For that matter, Sunny looks like ze's taken some damage; I see scratches and arrows sticking out. I'm not sure if this is at all a winnable fight any more from Serini's perspective. She's lost the element of surprise and invisibility, and now the PC mage and fighter are back on their feet. Time for a contingency teleport out and try again, I think.

ETA: I think there's a bit of hypocrisy in that last panel. If she needs to concentrate , why is she reading a magazine while performing the task requiring focus?

Respectfully,

Brian P.

I don't exactly like her a whole lot currently, but I can understand why she'd be incredibly annoyed about that. The general point still stands.

[KorvinStarmast]

Okay, the last panel was a crowning moment of awesome. All heed the elders of the glorious Halfling people.

The last four panels were a bucket full of humor and win.

Haley loopholing her way out of a compulsion effect before it is dispelled? Pure gold.

Once again, Haley is smart comes in handy.

Bet V hasn't been called an "absolute dunce-waffle" before.

V has with some frequency acted like the dumbest smart person in the room.

I think this puts to rest whether or not Serini is good, she is punishing scam callers, any and all actions against to do this are valid.

I have deep empathy for Serini regarding the sin of quality reading time being interrupted by unwanted phone calls.

Oh dear gods ... the Order has become the extended warranty sales calls!
"Hello, we are calling about your Gate's extended warranty."
They have officially lived long enough to see themselves become the villain!

Cue Elton John to sing The Circle of Life

That cold calling with Sending....brings back memories.

I am in a 5e game where we took down a mind flayer lich as a level 11 party. That was a hard fight. (PWK on our blade lock killed him, took a Revivify to get him back up). But did we find the phylactery? No. Well, once the lich got back into business via the phylactery, guess what we are treated to? Daily sending spells about how she's gonna come and kill us, and our little dog too! As there is nothing we can do to stop them, our PCs have come up with some canned responses to insult her back ... which is part of the fun.

Given her smug overconfidence ("stand still, children while I absolutely annihilate you! I'msoawesome!"), I wouldn't be surprised if she'd believed that she'll never get mixed up in melee, and consequently, investing resources into that would be tantamount to wasting those resources.

The down side of optimization ... sometimes the min shows up and your max isn't helping.

Or, as in this case, when you have no way to be sure you're on your friend's mom in the first place

Sunny's mom, she's got it going on ... no, wait ... Sunny's mom, she's got a rogue upon {her} ...

I was thinking "waffle" as the verb meaning to go on at needless length... (so "dunce-waffle" == "a stupid person who talks too much")

Likewise.
But it might be just the odd juxtaposition, like the affectionate "studmuffin" a lady in some movie referred to her man as. (Why can't I remember the name of that film? Arrgh).

Last point: as a fellow gray hair, I deeply appreciate Serini's rage at V for interrupting quality time reading. And the need for high fiber diets. I doubt metamucil(TM) is available in OotS verse ...

Thanks Giant. That's why we keep coming back: good jokes. Belkar's closing gag seems to have sarcasm dripping from them. Great strip.

[Doug Lampert]

Well you treat the charmer like your friend. If you wouldn't get off your friend's mom just because they asked, you're undr no obligation to do it for your charmer.

Yep, and to be honest, if my friend's mom had been SHOOTING at me and my friends and saying "we've got glue" when my friend objected to a plan that would probably shatter me, I'd probably keep holding mom down till things were clarified a bit better.

Charm makes you my friend, I tend to try to avoid fighting with my friend's friends, but when there's a fight already going because I was ambushed and attacked by surprise then I might well expect my friend to be actively helping me deal with the ambusher rather than telling me to stand down and if the friend is telling me to stand down, I might well ignore them till I've dealt with the life or death threat.

Charm just isn't that good. It gives friendly, which isn't even as good as the "helpful" you can get with diplomacy by talking to someone for 6 seconds by RAW at Haley or Elan's level.

[The MunchKING]

Dictionaries do not dictate what words mean. They reflect how words are used at the time. This means they are not infallible. One definition of "waffle", as a verb, is indeed to change mind back and forth.

Well of course they aren't infallible, but that means that I can't point to it as an objective thing that is widely used, rather than a bit of local slang that just seems widely used to me because I am exposed to it a lot.

[chy03001]

Oh god...

Belkar's punchline really got me :-D

[declinator]

The version I heard of it as verb meant to go back and forth on issues, changing your mind over and over. "The politician waffled on his support of the bill" or something.

The dictionary recognizes neither of those interpretations, so I guess we are equally accurate. :D

You just need to look in the right dictionary.

[Psyren]

26... Now I'm sad.

As you noted, they're all separate sendings anyway. Even if it was 25 I doubt it would have been purposely intended.

I was thinking "waffle" as the verb meaning to go on at needless length... (so "dunce-waffle" == "a stupid person who talks too much")

I was going more for the noun myself - a waffle is full of holes, so she would essentially be calling V an airhead.

V has with some frequency acted like the dumbest smart person in the room.

More specifically in this instance, V has apparently forgotten all the past lengthy introductions they already gave her (or more likely, didn't realize they all connected since she never deigned to answer.) Serini is expressing frustration either at V's forgetfulness, failure to realize they were being deliberately ignored, or both.

I have deep empathy for Serini regarding the sin of quality reading time being interrupted by unwanted phone calls.

I don't. The fate of the planet is a valid reason to call someone repeatedly, and the mere fact that V knew her name is enough reason to conclude that's what the call was about even before the contents of the message itself. Not to mention, judging by her face, all of those calls took place after her nasty run-in with Xykon, so she would have to know the gates were in danger. Up until now I assumed they all had been reaching her while she was recuperating, but for her to be deliberately ignoring the one group trying to stop the guy who assaulted her needs some explaining.

[Dion]

There is an common American slang that is very close to duncewaffle, but is not appropriate for polite conversation.

It a noun, but it does not refer to tasty American breakfast food, nor is it something you would normally put ice cream in.

[KorvinStarmast]

I was going more for the noun myself - a waffle is full of holes, so she would essentially be calling V an airhead.

Nice.

I don't. The fate of the planet is a valid reason to call someone repeatedly, and the mere fact that V knew her name is enough reason to conclude that's what the call was about even before the contents of the message itself.

Perhaps when you get to be my age, you'll be more inclined towards empathy on that matter.

Remember one of the things about life and perspective: where ya sit determines what ya see.

As to the fate of the world, Serini has already got that covered as seen from where she's sitting. That point - Serini's confidence in the gate's effectiveness - has been given center stage for a dozen or so strips and, important fact on Serini's side, her defense has worked so far.

My suggestion: walk a mile in her shoes before saddling up that high horse about 'the fate of the world'

[Shale]

Yep, that is also what I assumed the line was a play on.

[Psyren]

As to the fate of the world, Serini has already got that covered as seen from where she's sitting. That point - Serini's confidence in the gate's effectiveness - been center stage for about a dozen or so strips and has worked so far.

V had no way of knowing about her state of mind, confident or otherwise. They didn't even know Xykon had already assaulted her even.

My suggestion: walk a mile in her shoes before saddling up that high horse about 'the fate of the world'

Caring about millions of lives is a "high horse?" Seriously?

[Dion]

Caring about millions of lives is a "high horse?" Seriously?

Yes, I am certain that this very important internet comic discussion about pooping is being taken seriously by all parties.

[KorvinStarmast]

V had no way of knowing about her state of mind, confident or otherwise. They didn't even know Xykon had already assaulted her even.

Where ya sit (V in this case) determines what ya see.

Yes, I am certain that this very important internet comic discussion about pooping is being taken seriously by all parties.

Pooping is serious business. If you doubt that assertion, try being constipated for a few days.

[Petrocorus]

I see you are from France. In America there is a long standing tradition of absurdist insults where you combine a normal insulting term like "dunce" with something absurdist and unrelated like "waffle".

As demonstrated by the Merovingian, we tend to mix insults with more insults, plus some God-related swears.

Also, as an aside, in America waffles are a breakfast dish more than a dessert, but they can be eaten for either meal. Not sure if its the same in France.

We do eat them for breakfast, for brunch, for dessert, for afternoon snacks.
They are so easy to associate with so many things.

ETA: I think there's a bit of hypocrisy in that last panel. If she needs to concentrate , why is she reading a magazine while performing the task requiring focus?

"Because you have to read a magazine."

[bunsen_h]

I don't get Serini's "what the hell happened to your face?" Is there something wrong with Belkar's face, or is that just a weak rejoinder meaning "your face is ugly"?

[Cygnia]

She's probably anticipating the next question asked about her.

[KorvinStarmast]

ETA: I think there's a bit of hypocrisy in that last panel. If she needs to concentrate , why is she reading a magazine while performing the task requiring focus?

Some people enjoy a little quality reading time in that environment because with the door closed, and the location being what it is, they won't be interrupted by spouses, children, etcetera ... and beyond that, if one isn't a mathematician (who usually can work things out with a pencil) and one is used to the evolution taking a while then having something to read while the process slowly moves to completion (too much grunting or straining can aggravate hernias or rupture blood vessels!) helps to make the entire evolution less trying.

[Zebulon]

New comic is up.

I just now registered so I can't yet make a new thread but if I could it would be that I might be the first one to see what's coming next. V just cast Dispel Magic! Maybe everyone forgot about this in all the excitement but Belkar's polymorphed lizard is out of the bag and running around. Isn't that the same lizard who was originally a T-Rex and if so the dispel magic will turn said lizard back into said T-Rex, right? Did anyone else see this coming?

[KorvinStarmast]

I just now registered so I can't yet make a new thread but if I could it would be that I might be the first one to see what's coming next. V just cast Dispel Magic! Maybe everyone forgot about this in all the excitement but Belkar's polymorphed lizard is out of the bag and running around. Isn't that the same lizard who was originally a T-Rex and if so the dispel magic will turn said lizard back into said T-Rex, right? Did anyone else see this coming?

I think someone alluded to it on page one, lemme check.
EDIT:
Yeah, here in post #13, someone referred to Bloodthirst when I suspect they meant Bloodfeast

[Dion]

I don't get Serini's "what the hell happened to your face?" Is there something wrong with Belkar's face, or is that just a weak rejoinder meaning "your face is ugly"?

Mt interpretation is she’s angry and and lashing out, and not really thinking all that clearly.

For all her skills and experience, I don’t think Serini scores very high on the “wisdom” stat.

[Crusher]

I think this puts to rest whether or not Serini is good, she is punishing scam callers, any and all actions against to do this are valid.

Wait, blue is sarcasm, right? How is this in any way sarcasm? If I get another call regarding an extended warranty for my car, it'll... Nice. I got a call regarding an extended warranty while typing that. The punchline I had planned wasn't even remotely as entertaining as that.

[danielxcutter]

I just now registered so I can't yet make a new thread but if I could it would be that I might be the first one to see what's coming next. V just cast Dispel Magic! Maybe everyone forgot about this in all the excitement but Belkar's polymorphed lizard is out of the bag and running around. Isn't that the same lizard who was originally a T-Rex and if so the dispel magic will turn said lizard back into said T-Rex, right? Did anyone else see this coming?

No, I don't think Dispel Magic works for that anyways. Break Enchantment might work, though.

Wait, blue is sarcasm, right? How is this in any way sarcasm? If I get another call regarding an extended warranty for my car, it'll... Nice. I got a call regarding an extended warranty while typing this. That's totally better than the punchline I had planned.

(*actually laughs out loud*)

[gatemansgc]

Haley loopholing her way out of a compulsion effect before it is dispelled? Pure gold.

Serini calling V a 'dunce-waffle'? Priceless.

dunce-waffle had me rolling!

also the angry serini on the toilet was gold!

[Dion]

Our records show that you have not signed up for an extended warranty on your gate. Press one to speak to a representative…

[Jaxzan Proditor]

Somehow, it was just now in this strip that I realized Belkar is wearing gloves.

Anyway, this was an excellent strip! The humor's great and it's also making me realize that there are some commonalities across halflings. Maybe being short makes them angrier? "Quiet, unidentified creature!" also made me chortle. I'm excited to see if the Order is able to convince Serini that they're not all bad, or if there will be more fighting in the not-to-distant future.

[Quizatzhaderac]

How does Serini know that detectives wear deerstalker caps?

Can you suggest one reason why OOTSverse detectives wouldn't wear deerstalker caps?

It's not like it's a smartphone, people had hats in the old days.

ETA: I think there's a bit of hypocrisy in that last panel. If she needs to concentrate , why is she reading a magazine while performing the task requiring focus?

She needs to focus on relaxing, so certain types of distractions can be helpful.