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A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Could somebody make that. Thanks.
Also, as a side note, I think the Giant has fallen down his own hole lately. Back in the strips where Haley lost her voice, we had the part of her say that it just wanted to get back to the comedy. That was the voice of the people of the forum. But now, the Giant has fallen into the same trap. He needs to lighten up the atmosphere of child-murderers, evil-doers and soldiers with something fun for a change. Maybe Elan can be made into a dinosaur like he always wanted! :smallbiggrin::smallconfused::smallcool:
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
He's wrapping up a book. Drama is a thing that's going to happen. Right about now, my funk-soul brother.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
FlawedParadigm
He's wrapping up a book. Drama is a thing that's going to happen. Right about now, my funk-soul brother.
Noooooo. Noooooo! *Kisses* :smallsmile:
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Luna_Mayflower
Noooooo. Noooooo! *Kisses* :smallsmile:
Well, that's official, I just got my first forum kiss.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Luna_Mayflower
Maybe Elan can be made into a dinosaur like he always wanted! :smallbiggrin::smallconfused::smallcool:
At this juncture, goofy comedy with absolutely no drama at all would induce some pretty severe mood whiplash. It would also feel pretty wildly out of place in the current story arc.
Just wait for it. I'm sure there will be lighter strips eventually. Just...not during the storyline about Elan's dad being the utterly amoral blood-soaked tyrant of an evil empire.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chuikov
At this juncture, goofy comedy with absolutely no drama at all would induce some pretty severe mood whiplash. It would also feel pretty wildly out of place in the current story arc.
Except maybe for this: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0904.html
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
The official term for it (and by official, I mean the one that TVTropes uses) is Cerebus Syndrome. It's not a bad thing to become more dramatic over time; and while DCF was fun and all, it's nice to have an actual, deep plot.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
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Originally Posted by
Purgatorius
Well, that WAS before Tarquin showed up.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
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Originally Posted by
Purgatorius
Yeah, but compare that to this:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0012.html
There are no straightforward gag strips like that anymore. Even on a relatively light-hearted strip like the one you linked to, they're in genuine danger of getting killed by a giant Silicon elemental and acknowledge such. The stakes are too high for strips that are 100% aiming for a laugh, without injecting some drama and actual danger into the mix.
Yep. Cerebus syndrome. Though it should be pointed out that, while the comic has definitely tipped much more towards the serious stuff, I can't even remember if there's ever been a strip which is pure drama, without even a single attempt made at getting a laugh. Drama and humor are still very well balanced.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Pure comedy strips happen towards the beginning of books. Like this one; we had Aton, sex taint, and cart of gophers, along with Durkon versus the palm tree, Belkar's sweat woes, et cetera. You don't put pure comedy in the middle of the climax though, unless you really want people scratching their heads and greatly diffusing the dramatic tension. I'm sure we'll see some pure comedy before #950.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
well, if oots didn't have a good plot, i won't be reading it. jokes alone can only bring you that far.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
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Originally Posted by
King of Nowere
well, if oots didn't have a good plot, i won't be reading it. jokes alone can only bring you that far.
Agreed. It's not the jokes that have me checking daily for new comics, it's the ongoing and gripping storyline.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jhunter_d
The official term for it (and by official, I mean the one that TVTropes uses) is
Cerebus Syndrome. It's not a bad thing to become more dramatic over time; and while DCF was fun and all, it's nice to have an actual, deep plot.
How does "Cerebus Syndrome" not refer to the creator of a work going crazy and filling his magnum opus with off-topic sexist rants?
I think it's a better example of Just One Chair On The Executor's Bridge.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jere7my
How does "Cerebus Syndrome" not refer to the creator of a work going crazy and filling his magnum opus with off-topic sexist rants?
Only because he wasn't crazy yet at the time when the term was made up.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Excise
Only because he wasn't crazy yet at the time when the term was made up.
Which probably means it should go to sliding scale of comedy vs. drama, really.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
I've complained about excessive drama and lack of humor at times in the past, but I think the current major arc is being wrapped up in a much better way. Except for the few people who loved Nale, I don't think his death was overly dramatic. Tarquin is good for several humorous panels per strip if you don't overreact to the fact that he's evil to characters with names just as he has always been evil to nameless slaves.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Excise
Only because he wasn't crazy yet at the time when the term was made up.
Is that true? Reads was released in 1993 and 1994, in the very early days of the web. Sim went off-the-rails misogynist well before Television Tropes was invented.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
There has been a lot of good humour in the recent strips, IMHO:
"--then let me friends go. Dinnae kill them too. Tha's me last request. Tha's all tha matters."
"What's real...is that my family is screwed up and broken. And it's not going to just get magically fixed, ever."
"NERRRGHHALLL! SSAVE MEEE!"
"I never wanted him dead. Ever."
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Chuikov
At this juncture, goofy comedy with absolutely no drama at all would induce some pretty severe mood whiplash. It would also feel pretty wildly out of place in the current story arc.
Just wait for it. I'm sure there will be lighter strips eventually. Just...not during the storyline about Elan's dad being the utterly amoral blood-soaked tyrant of an evil empire.
Actually... Part of the current drama is, well, Tarquin intentionally layering on the drama. Does V know Polymorph? Because, if so, we can maybe get Elan turning into a giant dinosaur for practical purposes, AND the shift to comedy would be just the sort of "Make him fall in a decidedly non-badass way" solution Elan's looking for. Except, well, for the part that would involve eating his dad. Elan probably wouldn't go for that. Maybe we'd need a Belkarsaurus, too.
That, or :vaarsuvius: "Summon 16-Ton Weight."
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
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Originally Posted by
Gift Jeraff
There has been a lot of good humour in the recent strips, IMHO:
"--then let me friends go. Dinnae kill them too. Tha's me last request. Tha's all tha matters."
"What's real...is that my family is screwed up and broken. And it's not going to just get magically fixed, ever."
"NERRRGHHALLL! SSAVE MEEE!"
"I never wanted him dead. Ever."
How is that humour? Unless there's something I'm missing here...
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gorbad Ironclaw
How is that humour? Unless there's something I'm missing here...
I'm pretty sure that's sarcasm. Never interpret anything that Gift Jeraff says as serious.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
What kind of a shot it should be? I'd prefer Five Star General, but most of the stuff will do.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
FlawedParadigm
Pure comedy strips happen towards the beginning of books. Like this one; we had Aton, sex taint, and cart of gophers, along with Durkon versus the palm tree, Belkar's sweat woes, et cetera. You don't put pure comedy in the middle of the climax though, unless you really want people scratching their heads and greatly diffusing the dramatic tension. I'm sure we'll see some pure comedy before #950.
Yes, bingo.
The Giant does a phenomenal job of managing humor and drama. Personally, I'm a fan of the more dramatic direction the strip has taken. That's what keep me anxious for the next page.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
What would they inoculate Tarquin against, though? He's already got rabid narcissism.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Back to the topic:
Spoiler
Show
DON'T LOOK!
Spoiler
Show
DO NOT LOOK IF YOU'RE A MINOR! EXTREME GRIMDARK!
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jere7my
Is that true? Reads was released in 1993 and 1994, in the very early days of the web. Sim went off-the-rails misogynist well before Television Tropes was invented.
But probably not before the term Cerebus Syndrome was in common use among creative types.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jere7my
Is that true? Reads was released in 1993 and 1994, in the very early days of the web. Sim went off-the-rails misogynist well before Television Tropes was invented.
Right, but the term pre-dates TV Tropes.
Incidentally, it also makes an appearance in the work of our own (non-TV-Tropes-reading) Giant.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
jere7my
Is that true? Reads was released in 1993 and 1994, in the very early days of the web. Sim went off-the-rails misogynist well before Television Tropes was invented.
Cerebus was a paper comic, not a web comic.
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Re: A picture of Tarquin getting shot.
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Originally Posted by
Michaeler
But probably not before the term Cerebus Syndrome was in common use among creative types.
That's what I'm asking—do you have an example of that? I've known about Cerebus for over 20 years and I'd never heard the term "Cerebus Syndrome" before this thread. Absent evidence to the contrary, I would assume it was a Television Tropes invention.
(After a little digging, it looks like it originated on a site called Websnark, c. 2004. Nothing comes up on Google from before 2004. That's the same year Television Tropes debuted, and ten years after Reads.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Goosefeather
Incidentally, it also makes an appearance in the
work of our own (non-TV-Tropes-reading) Giant.
That's a reference to Cerebus, not to the term "Cerebus Syndrome".
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Warren Dew
Cerebus was a paper comic, not a web comic.
Uh...yes? I've got half a bookshelf full of the phone books and a pile of individual issues.