The Annotated Order of the Stick - A Companion Guide

[ti'esar]

While you're making changes, there's a minor error in the note on 722: evasion is a special ability, not a feat. I'm not sure if you referred to it elsewhere as a feat.

Also,

Strip 1030: Naming Names

• Most (all?) of the names proposed by the Order for the vampire are names that were used by various forum members between the beginning of book 6 and that strip.

I'm not really sure this is true. "Durkula" was the only one commonly used that I saw (and even there it was usually just Durkula, not "Count Durkula", but that's a nitpick). One of the other popular ones was Lurky Corpsewhiskers, which didn't even get in there.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

I'm not really sure this is true. "Durkula" was the only one commonly used that I saw (and even there it was usually just Durkula, not "Count Durkula", but that's a nitpick). One of the other popular ones was Lurky Corpsewhiskers, which didn't even get in there.

This is how I feel as well. Even then, since I doubt that The Giant actually went hunting through the forum for name suggestions, it’s an annotation that I feel doesn’t really add much to any understanding of the strip.

[unbeliever536]

I'm sure I saw Jerkon, Nokrud, Nose-Fur-atu, and possibly The Thorsaken before that strip was published (though Durkula was the popular one). Leechy Veinquaff (which I always read as Leechy Vielquaff), Undurkon, and TCFKaD are also recognizable. As to why, I think it's interesting and useful to know that this strip was in part a response to the forum and the general difficulty of talking about the vampire over the previous 180 or so strips. It's the kind of thing I'd want to know if I were coming back to OotS after the fact and examining it in depth, especially since the initial naming difficulties are no longer there to observe (easily). I find it to be an interesting fact much like the fact that V's gender ambiguity comes from the forums not being able to figure it out.

[ti'esar]

But the thing is that I don't believe it was. I'm certain that the majority of those names were not responses to the forum, but Rich independently coming up with joke names for the vampire, which is why I'm objecting to the entry. Jerkon and Nokrud and Undurkon are all at least plausible, but I know some of them definitely were not in previous use. (Nose-Fur-Atu, in particular, I think I'd remember, since I really like it). And if they had been a reference to the forums, I suspect that that unspellable "Physrgnlxrx" or whatever it was would be in there as a nod to make that explicit.

Honestly, I don't recall the vampire's name even really being a big point of discussion until he gave up his high priest status only about a dozen or so comics earlier - before then it was mostly just a split between Durkula and High Priest of Hel or HPoH advocates. Pretty sure Physrgnlxrx and the like only came after 1017.

[Gwynfrid]

This is an interesting debate... A bit of forum searching is helpful here. It reveals that the following were in use before March 25, 2016, the date #1030 went online: "Nokrud", "Undurkon", "Durkula", and "Jerkon". On the other hand, none of "Durkzzaro", "Nose-fur-atu", "Thorsaken" or "Veinquaff" are to be found in any thread started before that date.

In fact, before #1030 there appears to have been quite a few threads discussing names for the "HPoH", as it was most commonly dubbed early on. But usually, forumites came up with either relatively basic things like "Durkula", or constructs of pure silliness, such as "Phyrnglsnyx".

In fact, I think what the Giant was doing here is a bit of gentle fun at the forumites' expense (an idea that was expressed in the #1030 discussion thread as well). He quoted the relatively easy nicknames the forum came up with on the left side of the panel, and then he gave everybody a bit of a lesson in nickname creativity, ending with the hilariously nonsensical "Greg".

The annotation remains useful, though, because this strip is one of the most obvious examples of the Giant responding to the forum trends, in his own way. So, I propose some edits:

Strip 1030: Naming Names

• A few of the names proposed by the Order for the vampire are names that were used by various forum members between the beginning of book 6 and that strip. At the time, the matter of what to name the vampire was a fairly popular topic.

[Ron Miel]

"Nokrud", "Undurkon", "Durkula", and "Jerkon" are all fairly obvious names that several different people thought up independently. Quite likely the Giant did too. Unless the Giant specifically says he took the names from the forum, there is no reason to suppose that he did. He rarely reads the forum these days, and in all probability didn't know about the speculations. Plus he has a long standing policy of not following suggestions offered to him.

From the FAQ :

Q: Wouldn't it be cool if X, Y, and Z happened? You should totally do that.

A: Thanks, but I prefer to create my own plots. In fact, I try not to read anything where people suggest upcoming plot ideas because I hate it when people guess what is going to happen. I feel the uncontrollable urge to change what happens, just to prove them wrong. Petty? Probably.

Q: Hey, you used my idea I posted! Cool!

A: No, I didn't. Even if your idea that you posted completely matches what eventually happened, you can be sure I was not inspired by your post. Largely because I probably didn't read it (see above question).

This note should not be included, however it is worded.

[Gwynfrid]

"Nokrud", "Undurkon", "Durkula", and "Jerkon" are all fairly obvious names that several different people thought up independently. Quite likely the Giant did too. Unless the Giant specifically says he took the names from the forum, there is no reason to suppose that he did. He rarely reads the forum these days, and in all probability didn't know about the speculations. Plus he has a long standing policy of not following suggestions offered to him.

That #1030 isn't a response to the forum's comments at some level is something I find hard to believe. The suggested names were neither speculations nor suggestions, by the way: The comments were only about how to call the HPoH within the scope of forum discussions. But ultimately, that doesn't matter. The annotation as suggested is a mere statement of fact. It doesn't speculate about the Giant's intent in any way: That would have been inappropriate.

[Kish]

It is, however a misleading statement as given, and the person who proposed it explicitly stated wanting it to establish something "interesting and useful to know" about Rich's intent that is highly uncertain. Change it to, "Many of the names proposed by the Order for the vampire were already in use by some forum posters, though several other names that were used by forum posters do not show up here" and it would be 1) more accurate and 2) significantly harder to take as implying more than it should.

[Gwynfrid]

OK, I can see how it can be considered misleading. That said, it isn't "many names". It's just, exactly, four names with an origin before the publication of #1030. While I could only disprove 4 out of the 12 others, I strongly doubt any of the rest originated in the forum.

[ti'esar]

I think it might be better to drop the question of where specific names came from altogether and just make a note that the comic was a nod to then-current forum discussions on what to call the vampire - which I think is definitely true.

[unbeliever536]

I think it might be better to drop the question of where specific names came from altogether and just make a note that the comic was a nod to then-current forum discussions on what to call the vampire - which I think is definitely true.

I would support this notion.

[Ron Miel]

Unless you have evidence that it was a nod, it is an incorrect and misleading annotation. The Giant probably didn't know or care about the threads discussing HPOH's name.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Unless you have evidence that it was a nod, it is an incorrect and misleading annotation. The Giant probably didn't know or care about the threads discussing HPOH's name.

Agreed. The fact that the overlap is pretty much the obvious names suggests to me that it was a coincidence; if he had been aware of it and was trying to make a nod to the forums, he would've included a [very long descriptive name], AKA [unpronounceable acronym] - he didn't, therefore I doubt he was trying to make a nod at all.

And as to the broader "people were discussing what to call Greg in the forums" the same could be said about pretty much every revelation in the comic. The forum is always attempting to predict the Giant's next strip, and due to sheer search space traversing, we occasionally do manage to get some bits right. But we can't add that to every strip as a commentary.

Grey Wolf

[Gwynfrid]

I see where those opposed to this annotation are coming from, but I beg to differ, for 2 reasons:
- Every annotation includes an element of interpretation and opinion over what the Giant's intentions were with a given strip, phrase, or art element. Most of the annotations that claim that a strip is a reference to a movie, video game, historical event, song, etc aren't backed by anything the Giant has ever said. Many annotations that call out a link between two strips are similarly not confirmed by a Giant quote. Saying that an annotation shouldn't exist until proven is equivalent to saying this thread maybe shouldn't exist at all, or, at the very least, that more than half of its content should be purged.
- To me, #1030 is considerably more funny when I recall the forum's discussions of a name for Durkon*. As this thread is meant to enhance its readers' enjoyment of the comic, I believe an annotation to call out the possibility that #1030 may be a nod to the forum is helpful. Of course, it shouldn't imply the nod as a statement of fact, or oversell the significance of the names the Giant used.

[Musaran]

Questions :
Strip 683, panel 4 : What is the half-camel reference ?
Strip 767, panel 3 : Why is "philter" replaced with "potion" ?
Strip 785, panel 8 : WBL ?
Strip 812 : Title meaning ?
Strip 928, panel 6 : Remind what Haley's lime green boots are ?


Running gags:

• "you called it..." + "Not the point" : Strip 926, last panel + 2 previous "trouser titan" strips.
• Explosive rune : Strip 941 + Many others before.
• Roy & architecure : Strips 994
• Flumphs : Strip 1090 (aversion)
• I wondered if V's gender ambiguity count ?

Annotations :
Sorry I don't provide previous strip numbers.
It requires un-spoiling the transcript one by one to search, which is way too tedious.

Strip 688:

• The spice, it giving blue eyes, and the giant sand worm are references to Dune.

Strip 693:

• The title is a reference to the meme that T-Rex's arms are too short for anything useful.

Strip 696:

• In panel 4, Elan shoehorned "epic", misspelled "sorcerer" as "sorecirer, "coming" with 2 m, "your" as "you're", and used "!!1!" punctuation like frantic typing on a qwerty keyboard. Pretty sloppy for a class supposed to be literate.

Strip 729 (fix)
Panel 10, not 1.

Strip 764:

• Panel 4 jokingly explains why Elan's retelling is muted.

Strip 794 (alternative):

• Or, her tails curls because she lies, just like in strip 380.

Strip 841:

• In panel 6, the up/down level refers to strip 12.

Strip 849:

• Panel 3 seems to finally answer the old question of whether Sabine is a demon or a devil from <when Haley first shot 2 arrows at her, near their first encounter>.

Someone (the imp ?) did call her devil or demon in-between, but without feedback.

Strip 874:

• The last panel's conflict is a recurrent gag explained in <strip where Durkon exposes his mythology>.

Strip 894:

• Last panel is a reference to Super Mario's "Sorry, your princess is in another castle" meme.

Strip 905:

• In panel 7, Elan references his off-panel fight with a cactus to impress Haley in <strip ?>.

Strip 942:

• Last panel is a Throwback to Roy trying to buy a polearm in strip <?>.

Strip 963:

• First mention of durkon's full name.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Sorry I don't provide previous strip numbers.
It requires un-spoiling the transcript one by one to search, which is way too tedious.

FYI: at the top right of every post there is a "Spoilers" menu that allows you to open all spoilers at once.

GW

[Musaran]

Oh, I find out only now OOTS is pretty well documented on Wikia, with in particular :
List of Running Gags
Strips individually annotated with transcripts

[Gwynfrid]

Questions :
Strip 683, panel 4 : What is the half-camel reference ?

See #87.

Strip 767, panel 3 : Why is "philter" replaced with "potion" ?

I'm fairly sure this is a game editions joke. In 3rd edition, the correct term is "potion". In earlier edition(s) but I can't remember exactly which, it was "philter" (because the spell Glibness didn't exist so it couldn't be made into a potion; the philter existed, and got made into a spell starting with 3rd edition).

Strip 785, panel 8 : WBL ?

Wealth by Level.This is a rule that says how much wealth (including magic items) a NPC of a given level is supposed to own. It's a tool for the DM to balance fights, and loot.

Strip 812 : Title meaning ?

Dunno.

Strip 928, panel 6 : Remind what Haley's lime green boots are ?

See annotation for #3, and the running gags section.

[Ron Miel]

Strip #812 And Yet, the Canned Meat Merchant Still Gets Through

The title refers to Spam. This has two meanings :

1) A type of canned meat.

2) Unwanted emails or message board posts trying to sell you stuff, or to steal your money through trickery.


The final panel is a reference to methods used to prevent unwanted posts. But sometimes they get through anyway.

So, the title says [Spam] still gets through, but substitutes the wrong meaning for Spam.

[TheWombatOfDoom]

Of course this thread gets going again the 2 weeks I'm on vacation! Let me get started on that and I'll post updates as I have them for now. As for the naming conventions of Vampire Durkon debate, lets hold it to a vote. For those of you who are not up-to-date on the topic:

Should we include the annotation that in strip 1030, the Giant referenced some of the things people on the forums called Durkon since there wasn't an official name.

Those who are saying 'yes' believe that at least some of the names were direct references.

Those who are saying 'no' believe that there isn't enough evidence that it was a direct reference.

Please Bold your vote, and if you wish, any other evidence or opinion on the matter. Majority wins. Or if you folks come to a more concise consensus I'll include that. Maybe phrasing in a way that is the best of both worlds?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Please Bold your vote, and if you wish, any other evidence or opinion on the matter. Majority wins. Or if you folks come to a more concise consensus I'll include that. Maybe phrasing in a way that is the best of both worlds?

No. The names are far more likely to be coincidences than a reference.

GW

[Kish]

No. The thread shouldn't claim we know more than we do.

[Gwynfrid]

Yes, for the reasons I outlined here.

That said, the wording should make sure we aren't affirmatively saying the Giant took some names from the forum. It's just that #1030 strongly looks and feels like a wink towards the forum posters.

[martianmister]

Yes, for the reasons Gwynfrid writed.

[Jaxzan Proditor]

No, this is likely not a reference to the forums.

[unbeliever536]

Should we include the annotation that in strip 1030, the Giant referenced some of the things people on the forums called Durkon since there wasn't an official name.

Yes. The comic is clearly poking fun at the audience, to which the Giant had easy direct access.

[Joerg]

Why not write in the annotation that a reference is possible, but that we don't know if it is one?

Otherwise, I personally don't think that it's a reference, so I'm voting no.

[alwaysbebatman]

yes........

[Jasdoif]

No, we don't need to make up excuses to pat ourselves on the back.

[Ron Miel]

No. Definitely No.