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

[Psyren]

Poor Therkla. I've been on fetch-quests at least as bad as that, and hers had a time-limit.

And yay for more Sangwaan! I have a new favorite OotS character.


(Also, I'm willing to bet the folks getting the most melodramatic over the fulfillment schedule weren't even backers.)

[FlawedParadigm]

That...was a pair of friends I didn't see coming. Well played. Also, that last line...deliciously ironic.

[The Giant]

Discussion of the new Therkla story, "Spoiler Alert," should go in this thread.

[Elfey]

Discussion of the new Therkla story, "Spoiler Alert," should go in this thread.

hah. Was looking for the right thread.

Sangwaan's death was pretty brilliant. Also lord Rooster seems to be kinda of jerk. Which fits.

[Zordrath]

Didn't expect the Sangwaan parts at all, but her role was thoroughly fantastic. Great to see her fleshed out a bit more A fun and engaging story overall, though it really sucks to know that Therkla's life really won't get much better, or last much longer after that.

[Elfey]

Didn't expect the Sangwaan parts at all, but her role was thoroughly fantastic. Great to see her fleshed out a bit more A fun and engaging story overall, though somewhat overcast by knowing that Therkla's life really won't get much better, or last much longer after that.

Otoh, that was kinda the point? Whether or not a spoiler ruins the work. We knew she was going to die, and not in this adventure, but did that spoiler ruin the entire PDF?

[Zordrath]

I didn't mean that this knowledge made the story worse, far from it - but seeing more of Therkla's life just made me want some more happy moments for her, and it's sad to already know that's not in the cards. Though as you said, that's part of the point and made the story much more impactful.

[RebelRogue]

Wow, just read "Spoiler Alert". That was beautiful. Well done, Giant.

[Draconi Redfir]

oh god i'm on the verge of tears after that. not too sure what the irony was in Sangwaan's death (the dragon was invisible?) but still powerful.

and poor Therkla never got to finish her dang book :/

[ti'esar]

Wow, I'm not a particular fan of Therkla, but I really liked that one. Kind of depressing - especially once you pick up on the little things like

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the parallels between the opening scene and a later scene in the online comic

- but also had some really funny moments.

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It took me two readings before I got the "Mik-Guh Fan" joke. That was great, and groanworthy.

And man, did anyone see Sangwaan's part coming?? (No pun intended).

[RebelRogue]

Also, I wonder if the box around Therkla's hand in the last panel of page 4 is an error or if I'm misunderstanding something?

[CoffeeIncluded]

Wow, I'm not a particular fan of Therkla, but I really liked that one. Kind of depressing - especially once you pick up on the little things like

Spoiler: Spoiler Alert

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the parallels between the opening scene and a later scene in the online comic

- but also had some really funny moments.

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It took me two readings before I got the "Mik-Guh Fan" joke. That was great, and groanworthy.

And man, did anyone see Sangwaan's part coming?? (No pun intended).

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What joke about the fan? I don't get it?

And I agree, this was a really good story, and perfectly bittersweet. I'm glad we got to see Sangwaan fleshed out too, and at least they both had some happiness before they died. It was sad, but in that satisfying way. Also, I live seeing everyone in the upgraded art style.

[The Giant]

Also, I wonder if the box around Therkla's hand in the last panel of page 4 is an error or if I'm misunderstanding something?

That's an error. Whoops. I can't fix it right now, I'll have to deal with it later.

[2.5 cats]

Totally worth the wait! I teared up at the end. Awesome story!

[Jasdoif]

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What joke about the fan? I don't get it?

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Mik-Guh Fan. MacGuffin.

[JasonZach]

God. GOD. Unf. Just made an account to say that the Therkla story was just. Fantastic. It's been said before but Giant is really a masterful story-teller. Love how it's such a small slice of Therkla's life but draws on the Sangwaan and Therkla and Kubota's future in the wider Oots mythology to feel really integrated into the epic story. And is there any theme greater than our place in the world, current and future? Loved the running joke of spoiler alerts and the McGuffin gag, too.

God, what a wonderful story, and beautiful epilogue.

[The Extinguisher]

I was unprepared for this feels trip.

[ti'esar]

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What joke about the fan? I don't get it?

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The object whose only purpose was to engineer an arbitrary conflict between Therkla and her opponent was named the "Mik-Guh Fan" - a play on "macguffin".

Edit: Ninja'd (appropriately enough) by Jasdoif.

[Psyren]

Joke explanations:

What joke about the fan? I don't get it?

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Mik-guh-fan sounds phonetically similar to "macguffin"

oh god i'm on the verge of tears after that. not too sure what the irony was in Sangwaan's death (the dragon was invisible?) but still powerful.

The joke there is that

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"the condition that made her blind is what would take her life."

She gets it as she is falling because Xykon's dragon threw her.

She is about to be dropped on her head, likely as she became blind as a baby by being dropped on her head.

"condition" should probably have more accurately been "event" there, but that wouldn't have been as funny.

and poor Therkla never got to finish her dang book :/

I like to think she did in the months after the battle, though of course it was spoiled by the soldier.

Also, sad at the indirect confirmation that Sangwaan is indeed no more.

[ti'esar]

The joke there is that

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"the condition that made her blind is what would take her life."

She gets it as she is falling because Xykon's dragon threw her.

She is about to be dropped on her head, likely as she became blind as a baby by being dropped on her head.

"condition" should probably have more accurately been "event" there, but that wouldn't have been as funny.

I don't think that's it. I think it's more that

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she'd earlier told Therkla that if given a choice between a sudden death or a long, slow deterioration, "I hope when it is my time, no one sees it coming". And that's indeed what happened - but not in the way she was referring to.

[Porthos]

I find it amusing that people are putting spoiler bars in a thread that specifically warns about "Unmarked spoilers". Doubly so since we're now talking about a work that has spoilers as one of its running themes.

Anyway, a combination of farce, pathos, and understanding. A difficult trio to pull off, but one well worth it.

Though, Rich, you DO realize that people are going to invoke Never Found the Body even MORE now, right? I mean, yes, it would totally detract from the sheer happiness that Sangwaan gets for going out on her terms (or at the very least, she's not going to die slowly and in incredible pain). But since when have minor little things like character happiness stopped epileptic trees from forming?

[Kgw]

(...)
I like to think she did in the months after the battle, though of course it was spoiled by the soldier.

Also, sad at the indirect confirmation that Sangwaan is indeed no more.

Unless the writer did live in Azure City, as we do know there were no "next month" for the 6th volume of the trilogy* to be released.


*I liked that joke, too.

[ref]

Excellent story. Gives you another look at known characters, one of them fairly minor after all, but makes you wonder just how many things we don't know about other characters.

I caught how

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Kubota told Therkla that it wouldn't be necessary to learn more about poisons. That bastard.

[Peelee]

I find it amusing that people are putting spoiler bars in a thread that specifically warns about "Unmarked spoilers". Doubly so since we're now talking about a work that has spoilers as one of its running themes.

I was about to make the same comment. Thank you.

That story was beautiful. I really enjoyed the friendship that grew between Therkla and Sangwaan, and I'm sad it was so short-lived.

[Throknor]

Excellent story. Gives you another look at known characters, one of them fairly minor after all, but makes you wonder just how many things we don't know about other characters.

I caught how

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Kubota told Therkla that it wouldn't be necessary to learn more about poisons. That bastard.

... and he wanted a list of poisons she's studied. For the 'records'.

And of course: rumble. rumble. rumble.

[Porthos]

.And of course: rumble. rumble. rumble.

Didn't even catch that until the second read through. It was like, "Hey......".

===

Nice (very minor) Erfworld shout out as well, BTW.

[MReav]

Sucks to be Sangwaan. Okay, she had a better safety net than most in her position, but still, losing her eyesight as a young girl to a condition that would kill her before 30?

And yes, I'm using unmarked spoilers. You have a problem? Maybe you shouldn't be in the thread that's called "OOTS Kickstarter Bonus PDFs: The Discussion Thread *Unmarked spoilers*"

Spoilers are metaphorical clothing and I'm invisible!

[Peelee]

And of course: rumble. rumble. rumble.

I cannot BELIEVE I didn't catch that. This also brings to light something I loved about this comic - it shows multiple unrelated events happening at the same time. It's like the Majora's Mask type storytelling, and I absolutely adore that. It really fleshes out the world in a way nothing else has ever accomplished as far as I'm concerned.

Giant, I know you receive a lot of praise (and criticism), so this will probably just fail in as another notch on the pole of people on your forum telling you they like your pretty pictures and all, but that was a delight to read and was an excellent example of why exactly I love your work.

[tmacdevitt]

Did not understand the panels talking about hitomi's marriage. An officer and hobgoblin?

Bypassing that, this was a wonderful story and many thanks for it!

[The Giant]

Giant, I know you receive a lot of praise (and criticism), so this will probably just fail in as another notch on the pole of people on your forum telling you they like your pretty pictures and all, but that was a delight to read and was an excellent example of why exactly I love your work.

Thanks. This was a difficult one, writing-wise, so I appreciate it.