OOTS #1107 - The Discussion Thread

[The MunchKING]

what exactly does Kudzu mean that Im not aware of?

It's a noxious, fast-growing plant widely considered to be one of the hardest plants to stop from invading and taking over everything. :D

[Grey_Wolf_c]

what exactly does Kudzu mean that Im not aware of?
sch

It's an invasive weed famous for being one of the fastest growing plants in the world. Large sections of the US are covered in the stuff.

Unrelatedly, it seems I was right in that Loki grants turning undead to his clerics because of his hatred of the undead.

GW

[Ruck]

what exactly does Kudzu mean that Im not aware of?
It doesnt strike me as a very dwarvish sounding name.
I would have expected that as a name for an Orc.


sch

It is a plant. A very invasive plant. A plant that overruns other plants. Granted, it's very pretty. It looks like the plant version of newfallen snow (from what I've seen of newfallen snow on the TV and internets, of course). Come to the South, you'll hear a lot about it.

A good example of kudzu would be the cover art to R.E.M.'s Murmur.

I imagine that Belkar, like me, is wondering why Hilgya named her son after a plant to begin with. (Although there is a certain logic, cruel though it may be, in naming an unwanted, unplanned child 'Kudzu.')

[Sc00by]

what exactly does Kudzu mean that Im not aware of?
It doesnt strike me as a very dwarvish sounding name.
I would have expected that as a name for an Orc.
sch

I didn't know either, but google says:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kudzu_..._United_States

it's an invasive fast growing (unwanted) plant. Someone to whom it is local will probably chime in with more info.

We have Japanese Knotweed in the UK, I assume it's similar...

edit: it seems everyone else (ever) replied while I was typing! ;)

[The MunchKING]

it's an invasive fast growing (unwanted) plant. Someone to whom it is local will probably chime in with more info.

Really hard to kill too. About the only thing I've heard of that was good at killing it was goats, as they eat it down to the ground and then the roots so it doesn't grow back.

[Ruck]

Definitely. It's Haley's lead in to the punch line panel and she would be familiar with the Church of Loki given their close ties with the Thieve's Guild. re: looking for Roy's resurrection, sending to Durkon, and old-blind-brainy Pete.

I also just realized that it ties into the strip title.

I think Kudzu is supposed to mean "F**k Dwarfkind...!"

Dwarves believe that trees are secretly intelligent, evil beings who pretend to be non-sentient, but slowly use their roots to collapse dwarven tunnels on purpose. Kudzu is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth. Calling the kid Kudzu is kinda like calling him Satan.

I did wonder about this possibility, though I told myself "Why wouldn't Hilgya just name him after an actual tree, then?"

[Menarker]

what exactly does Kudzu mean that Im not aware of?
It doesnt strike me as a very dwarvish sounding name.
I would have expected that as a name for an Orc.

A quick search at Wikipedia (and what little I already knew of plant life and the ton that I know of TVTropes) mentions that a Kudzu is a weed that grows and spreads with alarming speed, killing most other plant life by heavy shading and deprivation of nutrients/resources. (TVtrope mentions the Kudzu Plot where the number of plot-branches grow so numerous that it overwhelms the story/audience. Also Alien Kudzu, which is about foreign materials infesting our world at a scary rate. In fact, Alien Kudzu has lots of entries listed about many earth-variety plants related to or behaving like Kudzu.)

My interpretion is that it is basically an insulting name to Durkon and the whole dwarfish tradition, by giving a dwarf a name that is...
A: a plant, which is regarded very poorly to a subterran race that fears trees.
B: a bitter jab about how dwarf culture has suffocated her freedom. Even more so with Durkon who has saddled her with a baby which would cut into her freedom-oriented lifestyle in many ways. (Although she's trying to compensate for it.)

EDIT: And I've been ninjaed several times over in the course of writing this...

[schmunzel]

It is a plant. A very invasive plant. A plant that overruns other plants. Granted, it's very pretty. It looks like the plant version of newfallen snow (from what I've seen of newfallen snow on the TV and internets, of course). Come to the South, you'll hear a lot about it.

ETA:

Spoiler: Pictures!

Show

Kudzu? I guess he grows on you.

Bada bumbum ching!

I think Kudzu is supposed to mean "F**k Dwarfkind...!"

Dwarves believe that trees are secretly intelligent, evil beings who pretend to be non-sentient, but slowly use their roots to collapse dwarven tunnels on purpose. Kudzu is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth. Calling the kid Kudzu is kinda like calling him Satan.

Kudzu is an originally East Asian plant (its name in English is derived from the Japanese kuzu) that's become common throughout much of the Southeastern United States. In much of East Asia it is used as a foodstuff and base for various dishes. In the US, it is known for being a notoriously, unbelievably resilient invasive species that will literally kill other plants by growing so thickly over them that they can't get sun anymore and wither away.

A few of my favorite quotes from the Wikipedia article, to give you a sense of what "kudzu" tends to immediately evoke in most familiar English-speakers:


Anyway, I somehow think that this kid is gonna be pretty safe from harm

A quick search at Wikipedia (and what little I already knew of plant life and the ton that I know of TVTropes) mentions that a Kudzu is a weed that grows and spreads with alarming speed, killing most other plant life by heavy shading and deprivation of resources. (TVtrope mentions the Kudzu Plot where the number of plot-branches grow so numerous that it overwhelms the story/audience.)

My interpretion is that it is basically an insulting name to Durkon and the whole dwarfish tradition, by giving a dwarf a name that is...
A: a plant, which is regarded very poorly to a subterran race that fears trees.
B: a bitter jab about how dwarf culture has suffocated her freedom. Even more so with Durkon who has saddled her with a baby which would cut into her freedom-oriented lifestyle in many ways. (Although she's trying to compensate for it.)

thks a lot guys that now makes a hell of a lot of sense to me :)

sch

edit damn it what a response :P cudos to all of you :)
Mommy probably hasnt thought it through properly though :(
to be named after a weed is sure not going to help the little guy in the long run.
But Insulting others seemed to have been of greater import :(

[Peelee]

I imagine that Belkar, like me, is wondering why Hilgya named her son after a plant to begin with. (Although there is a certain logic, cruel though it may be, in naming an unwanted, unplanned child 'Kudzu.')

I figured it was a reference to how she hates Dwarven culture. Dwarves don't like trees? Name the kid Kudzu. At the very least, it'll grow on you. Dammit, Munchking beat me to it.

[Fyraltari]

Little Kudzu is too adorable to handle. Look at him :
Panel 2 I'm moving yeeah!
Panel 6 random air hug
Panel 10 can I get the shiny head-thing, mommy?

Plus "tunn unn deh!"

[Dragonus45]

Gotta love how delusional Hilgya is being in regards to the "unscrupulous" Durkon. Although given how busted clerics are she probably is right that Kudzu is safest sharing a square with her.

[Fyraltari]

I did wonder about this possibility, though I told myself "Why wouldn't Hilgya just name him after an actual tree, then?"

Trees are easy to kill.
A plant that is a nuisance but look deceptively beautiful, that probably resonates with the part of her personnality that made her choose to worship Loki over any other CE Northern God.

[Draconi Redfir]

between this and the last comic i can't help but think the giant is trying to quell the fans a bit. YES she's still a cleric of loki, YES she can turn undead, NO that is not something you need to be fussing about

[Giggling Ghast]

Unrelatedly, it seems I was right in that Loki grants turning undead to his clerics because of his hatred of the undead.

I'm a little unclear on my mythology: why does Loki hate the undead? I thought his daughter was half-undead.

[hroþila]

So no one really thinks of the comic strip "Kudzu" then. That simplifies matters.

[schmunzel]

between this and the last comic i can't help but think the giant is trying to quell the fans a bit. YES she's still a cleric of loki, YES she can turn undead, NO that is not something you need to be fussing about

Either he is a true seer (a) OR
he has a very finely tuned cristal ball (b) OR
he secretly peeks into the forums to read whats up (c) OR
he has constant nightmares 5 nights out of 7 where he dreams of the most frustrating ways the forumites could dissect his work (d)

my money is on the last one (d)

sch

[The MunchKING]

I'm a little unclear on my mythology: why does Loki hate the undead? I thought his daughter was half-undead.

maybe that's what turned him off of them. He doth KNOW that lo they are gross, icky things.

[The MunchKING]

So no one really thinks of the comic strip "Kudzu" then. That simplifies matters.

I had forgotten about that one actually.

Was that the one with the old lady and her dog?

[BannedInSchool]

Naw, obviously it's referring to the vintage Kudzu-Mazda sports car:

[DaggerPen]

I'm a little unclear on my mythology: why does Loki hate the undead? I thought his daughter was half-undead.

She is, but they are not on what I would call super great terms. Especially since the last comic heavily implied that Loki specifically sent Hilgya here to help stop Hel's plan.

[137beth]

Took me longer than it should have to figure out what Kudzu was trying to say

[Jasdoif]

I guess that's a hint that Loki is still Evil but he simply grants Turn Undead powers because ewww.

Or a hint that Loki and Hilgya aren't Evil.

[Fyraltari]

I'm a little unclear on my mythology: why does Loki hate the undead? I thought his daughter was half-undead.

Comic!Loki is not the same as Myth!Loki, for starter he is Thor's brother. Their personnalities are similar but details about them need not be.

Also in myth Hel is half-dead half-living but her parents are the same as Fenrir's (a big wolf) and Jormungandr (A big snake) : two giants. So Loki does not love the dead if that is what you thought. I can't recall any myth were Loki had to deal with undeads so it can go either way.

Hel might not even be half dead in this comic. Guess we'll never know unless the Giant tells us or her skirt gets lifted and I'd sooner believe Xykon operaating an ice cream truck than that ever happening.

[Onyavar]

Maybe Loki is actually fond of plants? That would also explain why he is regarded as evil ;-P

Also, sheeesh Hilgya, that line about being used and all.
If I remember things right, Hilgya was the one who actively sought to seduce Durkon. That she now seems to think that Durkon is a battleskirt-chasing gigolo is indicative for her losing her marbles.

By which I don't mean that Durkon's awful breakup speech wasn't totally mean and lacking all understanding of her situation. That Durkon back then would always choose Tradition over Tolerance.

[The MunchKING]

Hel might not even be half dead in this comic. Guess we'll never know unless the Giant tells us or her skirt gets lifted and I'd sooner believe Xykon operaating an ice cream truck than that ever happening.

Where as other Gods have feet and legs, she kind of trails off into a whispy ghost-butt.

That's a lot less gross and icky than her usual mythological portrayal where its more zombie like, but still works quite well for "Half-dead".

[Veya]

I did wonder about this possibility, though I told myself "Why wouldn't Hilgya just name him after an actual tree, then?"

Probably didn't want her kid to end up becoming a Pokémon Professor.

[hroþila]

I had forgotten about that one actually.

Was that the one with the old lady and her dog?

No idea, I didn't know it existed. It's enough for me to know it is almost certainly a reference to the plant and to nothing else.

Or a hint that Loki and Hilgya aren't Evil.

It doesn't explain away that SoD panel, so I consider this far less likely. But this topic was already discussed ad nauseam last time, so...

[Fyraltari]

Where as other Gods have feet and legs, she kind of trails off into a whispy ghost-butt.

Hey, you're right I never saw that. Thanks.

[CletusMusashi]

My first thought was that she named him Kudzu because kudzu kills trees.

[The MunchKING]

Probably didn't want her kid to end up becoming a Pokémon Professor.

I legitimately LOLed.

Hey, you're right I never saw that. Thanks.

It got brought up when I was bringing up the half-dead thing back in the Godsmoot strips.