OOTS #1235 - The Discussion Thread

[Worldsong]

At least he has upgraded from "Dun Dun, Dun!"

You mean downgraded, right.

[bunsen_h]

At least he has upgraded from "Dun Dun, Dun!"

Arrgh. Now I'm trying to identify a doo-wop song, probably 1950s or 1960s, tenor male. Beginning approximately:

Down down down down dooown,
C    E    C    E    D

Down dih doo-di
E    D   E   D

Down down down down dooown
C    E    G    E    D

Down dih doo-di
E    D   E   D

Down down down down dooown
C    E    C    E    D

Down dih doo-di
E    D   E   D

Down, wo wo wo wo-o
C     D  D  D  D- C

I'm having no luck searching for the song. Lyrics searches are turning up an immense number of "down down down" songs, and melody searches are giving me nonsense. Any suggestions?

[KorvinStarmast]

Arrgh. Now I'm trying to identify a doo-wop song, probably 1950s or 1960s, tenor male. Beginning approximately:

I'm having no luck searching for the song. Lyrics searches are turning up an immense number of "down down down" songs, and melody searches are giving me nonsense. Any suggestions?

I think it may be "why do fools fall in love" and the opening lyric is "why do birds, sing" but I need to check on that.

[bunsen_h]

I think it may be "why do fools fall in love" and the opening lyric is "why do birds, sing" but I need to check on that.

I listened to it on YouTube, and unless there's some very different rendition out there, that's not it. The voice I'm "hearing" in my head is a tenor male doing solo melody, something along the lines of Buddy Holly doing "Every Day". I may not be remembering any backing harmony, but the male solo melody is prominent.

[dancrilis]

Arrgh. Now I'm trying to identify a doo-wop song, probably 1950s or 1960s, tenor male. Beginning approximately:



I'm having no luck searching for the song. Lyrics searches are turning up an immense number of "down down down" songs, and melody searches are giving me nonsense. Any suggestions?

Maybe at a quick search Come Go With Me, but I imagine there are a lot that might look like they qualify.

[bunsen_h]

Maybe at a quick search Come Go With Me, but I imagine there are a lot that might look like they qualify.

Yes, that's it! Thank you!

Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun...

[arimareiji]

Arrgh. Now I'm trying to identify a doo-wop song, probably 1950s or 1960s, tenor male. Beginning approximately:



I'm having no luck searching for the song. Lyrics searches are turning up an immense number of "down down down" songs, and melody searches are giving me nonsense. Any suggestions?

Maybe at a quick search Come Go With Me, but I imagine there are a lot that might look like they qualify.

Yes, that's it! Thank you!

Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun...

Thank you both -- until now, I had misheard it as "Down-be-doody down down down down down". (^_^)°

[Petrocorus]

Also, as an unrelated comment, I'd like to say that I like Minrah's expression in panel 5.

Well, TBH, she probably has some character development left for her.
After all, we still don't know what she was worried about and she'd rather not have Thor mention it in front of Durkon.

[Dion]

Well, TBH, she probably has some character development left for her.
After all, we still don't know what she was worried about and she'd rather not have Thor mention it in front of Durkon.

Stickers. She has a huge sticker collection.

Most of it is K-Pop.

[Vikenlugaid]

I don't think, he was the great hero of his age. For one thing, he was contemporaries to the Order of the Scribble (I think, the calendar's a bit wonky) for another we've never seen anybody react to Roy's last name by mentionning him in any way.

Edit: as to why he wouldn't use a magical sword instead of the Greenhilt sword. Well, it's the Greenhilt sword, his family is named after it, it's important to him. Sometimes you make choices that aren't the best tactically but still makes sense to you.

Other warriors know the Spellspinter Maneuver and know that the one who used it is not alive. Maybe they just didn't know him by his name. And the Order of the Scribble wasn't famous at all, intentionally.

I mean, is not obligatory for a big hero to use a magic weapon, but being a high level single class fighter, is really really REALLY weird, at high level most if the time he would be totally useless with a normal weapon.

[Jasdoif]

I mean, is not obligatory for a big hero to use a magic weapon, but being a high level single class fighter, is really really REALLY weird, at high level most if the time he would be totally useless with a normal weapon.

Well, if you'll accept a response about being noncommital....

What's the deal with the Greenhilt sword? I mean, was it magic when the adventure starts? I'd venture that yes, since Roy's grandpa, being a high level warrior, probably wouldn't have gone so far with a normal sword. But then, it was broken by the spell Shatter, which can't break magic objects. But, then again, it is possible you brewed a houserule, so I don't know. Then it got improved by the starmetal sidequest, ok, but this legacy stuff: since when is that a thing? Was it within the whole time or was it something (or even the colective of things) Roy did?

I didn’t consult the rules for the Shatter spell when drawing that strip, I just remembered that it existed and decided it would be a good way to have Xykon break the sword. I could have taken five minutes to look the spell up, but I didn’t. Or maybe I did, and decided not to care. Who can say? It was 16 years ago. What’s important is that it is completely plausible that someone established to be a powerful sorcerer would have a spell that can break a sword; the name of that spell and how it works doesn’t matter from any kind of narrative point of view. If it makes you feel better to imagine Xykon silently adding “Greater” or “Improved” before the word Shatter, go right ahead.

As far as the legacy stuff, it’s a thing now. Roy has a deep personal investment in his sword and what it represents, and that investment has now created magical side effects. These powers did not exist until recently; he added them by feeling at his sword super hard. There’s a whole rulebook about this concept, but you hopefully won’t be surprised to learn that I didn’t read it before adding the idea to the comic. I simply wanted a way for Roy’s utility to increase without having to give him ancillary magic items, and I thought this would be something I could tie into his emotional development.

[Ruck]

Thank you both -- until now, I had misheard it as "Down-be-doody down down down down down". (^_^)°

See, that's why I thought they were talking about "Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do."

[Dr.Zero]

Well, if you'll accept a response about being noncommital....

Ok, so, indeed, X researched a more powerful version of shatter, like we imagined some pages ago.

Even if I doubt we will see him doing the same trick again, it would be damn funny:

RC: "Lord X, that green light seems ominous, and since they want to kill us, we can presume it is some added damage against evil creatures"[1]
X: "Oh, really?."
R: "X, we meet again, eventually! Prepare to die!"
X: "Did we meet already?"
R: "Damn you. I'm so going to kill you!"
X: "Ok, me first: shatter (again)"
RC: "DAMN IT! STUPID MAGIC QUADRATIC GROWTH!"


[1] It is against undeads, specifically, but RC can't know.

[hamishspence]

Ok, so, indeed, X researched a more powerful version of shatter, like we imagined some pages ago.

It's more "he might have done" than "he did".

the name of that spell and how it works doesn’t matter from any kind of narrative point of view. If it makes you feel better to imagine Xykon silently adding “Greater” or “Improved” before the word Shatter, go right ahead.

[Petrocorus]

Most of it is K-Pop.

Which does explain why doesn't want it to be mentioned publicly.

[Rrmcklin]

Well, TBH, she probably has some character development left for her.
After all, we still don't know what she was worried about and she'd rather not have Thor mention it in front of Durkon.

I don't see that ever mattering. It was a personal thing that it seems like she's already hashed out with whatever other people were involved. The point was to establish that Thor is a cool guy, not that whatever thing it is will actually matter for her role in the story. The actual details are irrelevant.

[Dion]

I don't see that ever mattering.

Dont be so sure!

I’m willing to bet real quataloos on my pet theory, where Minrah and Oona bond over their shared secret love for KPop stickers.

[danielxcutter]

Other warriors know the Spellspinter Maneuver and know that the one who used it is not alive. Maybe they just didn't know him by his name. And the Order of the Scribble wasn't famous at all, intentionally.

I mean, is not obligatory for a big hero to use a magic weapon, but being a high level single class fighter, is really really REALLY weird, at high level most if the time he would be totally useless with a normal weapon.

Nitpick; it seems there were other users besides Horace, it’s just that they’ve all croaked as well.

[bunsen_h]

Dont be so sure!

I’m willing to bet real quataloos on my pet theory, where Minrah and Oona bond over their shared secret love for KPop stickers.

Based on miscommunication.

"Oona loves that Azurite dim-sum dish!"

"Um, what?"

"Minced Azurite in little fried dumplings!"

"No, wait, that's... no, that isn't... aaargh, NO!"

[Vikenlugaid]

Well, if you'll accept a response about being noncommital....

Yeah, that's what i thought, Grenhilt sword is a mahic sword.

[hamishspence]

Yeah, that's what i thought, Grenhilt sword is a mahic sword.

"If it makes you feel better to imagine Xykon silently adding “Greater” or “Improved” before the word Shatter, go right ahead."


Sounds to me like


"If it makes you feel better to imagine that the Greenhilt sword was always magic, go right ahead"


which isn't quite the same thing as "It was always magic".

[georgie_leech]

"If it makes you feel better to imagine Xykon silently adding “Greater” or “Improved” before the word Shatter, go right ahead."


Sounds to me like


"If it makes you feel better to imagine that the Greenhilt sword was always magic, go right ahead"


which isn't quite the same thing as "It was always magic".

I mean, it's also "if you want to imagine Xykon's spell choice is allowed to break magical weapons because spell research, go right ahead." That is, "pick whatever justification you want for the spell working, I don't really care what the rules say if they get in the way of a basic scene like 'break the sword.'" The particular rules interactions aren't all that important the gist of the scene, which is just "Xykon uses magic to break the sword."

[Dion]

Obviously the sword was magic. The real magic is family, and it’s a family sword.

[Ruck]

I mean, it's also "if you want to imagine Xykon's spell choice is allowed to break magical weapons because spell research, go right ahead." That is, "pick whatever justification you want for the spell working, I don't really care what the rules say if they get in the way of a basic scene like 'break the sword.'" The particular rules interactions aren't all that important the gist of the scene, which is just "Xykon uses magic to break the sword."

Yeah, the justification is really, "a sorcerer as strong as Xykon plausibly has some spell that can shatter a sword." Seems plausible to me.

Obviously the sword was magic. The real magic is family, and it’s a family sword.

I was going to make a joke about how the real magic was the friends we made along the way, but given how much the story of the Order is of them actually coming together as a group, and Roy in particular learning to listen to his teammates more often, I was worried someone would take it seriously.

[arimareiji]

I was going to make a joke about how the real magic was the friends we made along the way, but given how much the story of the Order is of them actually coming together as a group, and Roy in particular learning to listen to his teammates more often, I was worried someone would take it seriously.

Yeah, let's not get too carried away. It's a comic about self-aware stick figures with occasional jokes about sentient food, not ponies or purple dinosaurs. (^_~)

---

_{Edit: Adding reply}

Well, if you'll accept a response about being noncommital....

Thank you very much (and not only for providing a good answer to this teapot tempest). (^_^)b

The link included an answer to a question that had been bugging the stew out of me,

Spoiler: refers to bonus content in Don't Split the Party

Show

"Who was the big bad monster that scared off the giant crab in the bonus pages of DStP?".

[Fincher]

Yeah, let's not get too carried away. It's a comic about self-aware stick figures with occasional jokes about sentient food, not ponies or purple dinosaurs. (^_~)

Poor Elan...

[arimareiji]

Poor Elan...

I think you've rooted out OotS's deepest, darkest secret... "Barney" having three of the same letters as "Elan", and just as likely to make someone say "If I don't look directly at it, it can't kill my brain"? And we're supposed to believe that's just coincidence? I think not! (^_~)

[Vikenlugaid]

"If it makes you feel better to imagine Xykon silently adding “Greater” or “Improved” before the word Shatter, go right ahead."


Sounds to me like


"If it makes you feel better to imagine that the Greenhilt sword was always magic, go right ahead"


which isn't quite the same thing as "It was always magic".

But it is, Rich just doesn't care how "shater" broke a magic sword. If it wasn't magic that answer would had been far shorter.

[Ruck]

But it is, Rich just doesn't care how "shater" broke a magic sword. If it wasn't magic that answer would had been far shorter.

I think Rich-- as he's said before-- just doesn't like to lock down details unless he has to, so he's saying, essentially, "whatever explanation is plausible to you will suffice." Whether that explanation is "non-magical sword" or "magical sword and Xykon's Improved Shatter" or whatever.

[Kish]

But it is, Rich just doesn't care how "shater" broke a magic sword. If it wasn't magic that answer would had been far shorter.

That's the fallacy of the excluded middle. You're acting like Rich just has to have decided whether the sword was magic or not before he wrote that scene, making the only two options for his answer "Shatter worked because the sword wasn't magic" or "[something with more words that you don't have to actually read because it has to mean the sword was magic]". But no...what he said was that he didn't really think about magic interactions either way when he wrote that scene; he wanted Xykon to have a spell that could break the sword, it was appropriate to Xykon's power level, so he did. That works whether the sword was magic and the spell was Greater Shatter, or the sword was not magic.