OOTS Kickstarter Bonus PDFs: The Discussion Thread *Unmarked spoilers*

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

All I have to say is that there were some fantastic one-liners.

Also, V is one of my favorite characters, and I loved how he would wax poetic about stat and rule blocks.

[jrmasson]

I depressed myself by getting all of Tarquin's "outdated" musical references.

I know how you feel. Then I thought about the number of readers who would have never heard the songs these jokes referenced and felt REALLY old.

Still laughed though.

[Balain]

For a grade 10 assignment a friend and I re-wrote Romeo and Juliet in a comedy/fantasy setting. No surprise this kicks butt on our version lol

This is just awesome. Thank You Rich.

[Thokk_Smash]

I know how you feel. Then I thought about the number of readers who would have never heard the songs these jokes referenced and felt REALLY old.

Still laughed though.

I'm 21 and I got the references, and I'm still laughing hysterically whenever I think of them (heheh, Funkytown).

Edit: Oh, and of course, I loved the references in the dance-hall panel. Ice King made me laugh, and all the attention to detail with the minor characters was amazing.

[factotum]

Does Haley have a tattoo in the main continuity?

Yes, she does--you get a glimpse of it when Elan and her are making out in the Azure City tower just before separating:

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0468.html

[Darth V]

There are the characters on the ball panel, from back to front, left to right. I have not listed the Imperial Soldiers.

Please help me fill in the blanks:

Gourntonk, Amun-Zora, __, __;
Kilkil, Z, Mr. Jones, Leeky Windstaff, Xykon (as Skeletor!);
A shard of glass, Crystal, Mr. Rodriguez, __, Robot from OtOoPCs, Team Tarquin's SPG, __;
Yokyok, Hilgya, Thog, Shadowdancer, __, Enor (half off-panel);
Ioun Stone Lady, Pompey, Team Tarquin's Catgirl, Kaboom Redaxe, Hank, Celia, V;
Malack (face hidden), Miron, Yikyik, Empire's Arena Wizard, Gannji.

It hasn't been mentioned yet, but I think the girl next to to the Shadowdancer is Samantha.

[EDIT]
Nevermind, that isn't Sam. While their hairstyles are similar, they don't match to that extent to be the same.
[/EDIT]


Also my favorite:

"You - elf!"
"You - baboon!"

[This Wicked Day]

Fantastic.

The first line that got a proper guffaw from me was "Father! ... Stepmother!" Hilarious that Sabine being married to Tarquin evidently hasn't changed the dynamic between her and Nybalt at all ... evil incarnation of illicit sex and all that, I suppose.

Vaarcutio's take on the Queen Mab speech was brilliant.

[Sylian]

Good job! I think this one was actually better than the ones in Snips, Snails, and Dragon Tales.

[stsasser]

Act 2, Scene 5 - Julelan not reacting until Nurse Banjo got back to his room to tell him the news: that broke my head.

Wonderful stuff!

[Nimrod's Son]

That mirrorball is impressively detailed.

[Grey Watcher]

...

I wouldn't go all that out of your way. I think the Pony/Adventure Time demographic overlap is fairly large, so I'm not sure you'll like Adventure Time. The tone of the shows is different, with Adventure Time being zany and insane while Pony is magical and sincere, but they both get most of their appeal from character interactions in their engaging world.

Ow.

I'm a fan of D&D and Order of the Stick and I don't appreciate characters interacting with their world? You wound me, sir.

Seriously, I get that My Little Pony is actually good TV. I acknowledge that it is well-written and well executed, I just can't seem to see it as more than a "well-written kids show", despite having been introduced to it by adult friends on two separate occasions. It seems, to me, like something I'd be happy to watch with my hypothetical child if they wanted (to contrast with certain other kids shows, which make me want to throw the TV out the window), but it doesn't quite grab me enough to start watching it for its own sake.

(The Franchise Mining crack was directed more at the executives than the fans because, let's face it, however well the show turned out, it sprang from the basest of origins: Cartoon Network wanted to trade on an existing name. It's just lucky that Lauren Faust is good enough at her job to actually take that ball and make something decent out of it.)

Anyway, I apologize for awkward and silly jokes that caused offense.

Anyway, I think some of my favorite bits on Haleo and Julielan are where things get massively condensed. Like that entire scene that gets rendered as Julelan going "Squeeeeeeeeee!"

The running gag with Ian and the Shakespeare puns was delightfully painful in the way that only excessive yet skilled puns can be. (That last sentence is supposed to be a compliment, if it's unclear.)

I wish I DM'd. I'd totally have my characters encounter Queen Mab.

Vaarcutio was a really nice touch, letting Vaarsuvius trade on his own brand of dismissive sarcasm instead of his intellect and over-education (which are the schticks he played up in other Stick Tales). The "ephemeral and mystically-bankrupt" exchange was hilarious.

I also like Celia stepping out of her element and actually being enthusiastically on board with all the stealing.

[Toper]

OK, Rich. I admit it. You got me. I completely missed the cameo of Stanley the Tool and Wanda Firebaugh.

Huh, I'll be darned. I didn't remember Wanda's old costume and her hair seems to be the wrong color, but there they are.

Roy Valroy also made me giggle, as well as the family tomb full of traps and undead.

[Mammal]

Seriously, I get that My Little Pony is actually good TV. I acknowledge that it is well-written and well executed, I just can't seem to see it as more than a "well-written kids show", despite having been introduced to it by adult friends on two separate occasions. It seems, to me, like something I'd be happy to watch with my hypothetical child if they wanted (to contrast with certain other kids shows, which make me want to throw the TV out the window), but it doesn't quite grab me enough to start watching it for its own sake.

I feel the same way about Adventure Time (I'm also not a fan of My Little Pony). I like it because it seems like a return to the shows that were on Cartoon Network when I was a kids (Courage the Cowardly Dog, Rocko's Modern Life, etc.), but not enough to watch it on my own. My friends and brother are both fans, and I will say that perhaps they enjoy it while under the influence of certain controlled substances.

But! I reread the comic, and it's soooo good. I think my favorite joke was the one about kissing by the book, because of course Elan reads Seventeenth Century. I really appreciated the gender-swap and all the little details (I only noticed that Haley has the Rosaline diamond in the last panel on my second readthrough), including the cameos and puns. Casting V as Mercutio was a stroke of genius.

I'm seriously considering getting SS&DT, now. Gotta love the Stickspeare.

[Grey Watcher]

He's not anyone else, he's just there as himself as part of the "other two parties" Tarquin says he conquered. Same with a few other not-masqueraded villain characters hidden around the scene.

Y'see, I read that line as referring to the other parts of his standard-continuity party (ie Miron Shewdanker, Malack, Ioun Stone Lady, Shoulder Pad Guy, and Catgirl) and that the party was an extended metaphor/parallel to the main continuity political shell game Tarquin's running.

Also, is the tapestry that Haleo was hiding behind supposed to be a reference to something? It looks like it should be? Maybe one of the various movie versions of R&J or something?

[thereaper]

All right, I give up. Who is the lawyer dancing with?

[Peelee]

Jones is not gay. He just hates fun.

That makes more sense looking back at all of Jones's appearances. Oh, to be ever shot down in my all theories. One day, I shall emerge victorious!

Also, thanks for the clarification. Cool to know.

[Ron Miel]

Jones is not gay. He just hates fun.

Is Rodriguez gay in the main continuity?

[Zea mays]

I wouldn't go all that out of your way. I think the Pony/Adventure Time demographic overlap is fairly large, so I'm not sure you'll like Adventure Time. The tone of the shows is different, with Adventure Time being zany and insane while Pony is magical and sincere, but they both get most of their appeal from character interactions in their engaging world.

I do not know how large the Pony-fan - Adventure Time fan overlap is, it does not include me. The overlap of Shakespeare fans with Adventure Time fans is where its at.

As for the show - it is definitely not for everyone. I say try it. If you like it, you now have hours of enjoyable viewing, if you don't, oh well, no harm no foul.

[DreadArchon]

Great! I loved V, I'm glad you guys caught Wanda and Stanley because I missed it, and the tomb encounters were unexpected and hilarious. I also liked the one-panel-act jokes.

[Tundar]

It love it!

"play that funky music wight boy" made me laugh out loud!

[Porthos]

Rich, if you ever decide to do art corrections on this for a future version, it looks like the Rosaline diamond is floating in mid-air near Sabine's neck on Page 8, Panel 4. The necklace that the diamond had been on is missing there.

[Kish]

Are you helpless against yourself?

I'm far too dangerous an opponent for someone of my meager abilities.

[Peelee]

I'm far too dangerous an opponent for someone of my meager abilities.

I think you could manage.

[Cizak]

You know, as epic and funny as the main plot is, sometimes it's nice to just read something that's 100% humor and no plot. And this is probably one of the funniest things Rich has ever written. And this is coming from someone who hasn't even read Romeo & Juliet.

Well done, Rich. Really well done.

[Ted The Bug]

Weren't these originally gonna be like 10 pages each? I feel like that was mentioned somewhere.

So when I first saw the page count, my eyes bugged out in happiness. And it was great!

[Porthos]

Weren't these originally gonna be like 10 pages each? I feel like that was mentioned somewhere.

So when I first saw the page count, my eyes bugged out in happiness. And it was great!

15 was the inital goal for H&J. The Stick Tale grew in the drawing, apparently.

[Haven]

And this is coming from someone who hasn't even read Romeo & Juliet.

Not that it's not accessible if you haven't read Shakespeare, but at least half the humor is gone if you haven't. ("Extended metaphors--the hot new way to flirt!" made me laugh so hard I might've broken something, it's one of the best Shakespeare jokes I've ever read.)

[RabidEel]

Question about the whole not sharing thing: am I allowed to let my little brother read the copy I printed out for myself, since we live in the same house and all (and my other brother *did* participate in the Kickstarter), or do I have to hide it in my room or something?

[Throknor]

Question about the whole not sharing thing: am I allowed to let my little brother read the copy I printed out for myself, since we live in the same house and all (and my other brother *did* participate in the Kickstarter), or do I have to hide it in my room or something?

I'd consider it the same as for a book you buy. If someone's in your house reading it that's fine, but using a copier and giving a full copy is not. Digital presents interesting challenges from the ease of copying; pretend it's a hard copy you bought and you'll be fine. Just don't print more than one or give it away.

[Kish]

Question about the whole not sharing thing: am I allowed to let my little brother read the copy I printed out for myself, since we live in the same house and all (and my other brother *did* participate in the Kickstarter), or do I have to hide it in my room or something?

If any living being but yourself views your copy of Haleo and Julelan, Rich's spectral assassins will wing their way through the ether to your house.