OOTS #678 - The Discussion Thread

[Nevrmore]

Also to defend V's spouse, that wasn't a simple 'one event' that was V showing up looking completely evil and then proceeding to do some rather horrible things and then proceed to completely ignore the spouse and any offer to reconcile and fix the problem.

Again, probably something you should at least have some mental preparation for when you're married to a significantly powerful wizard. I mean, if we're assuming that his spouse still believes him under the influence of all-consuming evil (probably the best assumption), what kind of dumbass would she be to try and divorce him? All-consuming evil probably has no qualms with skinning ex-wives alive and making quilts of their epidermis.

[Zanaril]

Poor, poor V.

*Hugs Vaarsuvius*

Hey, at least I know of a nice evil drow you could get together with!

Or there's always Belkar.

"Expeditious Retreat!"

[shadowxknight]

Good to see that the comic is updating regularly again.

But dang, that sucks for poor V.

[AxeD]

Oh snap! Did not expect that!

[Turkish Delight]

Ouch. Poor V.

And three cheers for regular updates! Fine work, Giant. Glad your break has left you motivated and healthy enough to keep up the ideal schedule, at least for the moment.

[David Argall]

Got one and missed one. Of course, it was rather obvious we were going to see at least a little more of Turban, so it was not a great hit. And while the divorce was not unpredictable, it is rather a surprising way to be served, indeed to the point of being rather forced. Still, servers are known to use rather devious tactics to serve someone when the target might prove difficult, and the fact we are talking about the unknown elven legal system gives our writer some room to maneuver. But we may be getting a hint that V will really need those diamond in the future.

As noted, the instant summons was a D&D joke, playing off a spell that worked in the opposite direction.

[sam79]

Once again, surprised by the turn that OotS has taken; and V was doing so much better before that turbaned wizard turned up!

All very sad for V; I was hoping for some sort of slow reconciliation with her mate, rather than a speedy divorce. I don't suppose that one totally rules out the possibility for the other, but it looks like the OotS happy ending quotient has just taken another big hit.

I never understood how so many people seemed to take such a harsh view of V's mate; to me his reactions in his previous appearances were not unreasonable given the circumstances. I suppose this is a logical and reasonable next step for him to take, but maybe a little premature. Two days is not much time, especially for an Elf, to take such a drastic measure.

[Dark Faun]

It was already said but I'll repeat it: unexpected. Completely unexpected.

Nothing ever goes V's way...

[Porthos]

Hang on, I'm seeing Drawmij's Instant Summons, not Dawnmij... Maybe I need to wipe my cache and refresh?

Well, ignore the parody bit then. I was just going by what the poster had typed.

As for the "suddenness" of this and the "one time event", I thought it was fairly obvious that there were preexisting tensions due to V leaving in the first place way back when. So this might have been a (very large) straw that broke the camels back.

Also, V could have tried to send a Sending spell, trying to tell Kyrie what was going on. Might have helped the situation a bit.

Or not. But I think NOT contacting Kyrie certainly didn't help the situation any.

[Kaytara]

Well this only confirms what was known for a while now: V's mate is an ungrateful arrogant sod who never understood V at all.

Hopefully V gets decent custody arrangements with the children and never has to interact with his supposed other half ever again.

I can't say I blame Kyrie considering what V had looked and acted like, but I did hope that she'd.... I don't know... try to clear the situation up a bit before actually suing for a divorce. After all, this is the same universe that has things like mind control and helms of opposite alignment and so on. For her, who'd been in contact with V for only several minutes, there was no telling how much of V's antics were to blame on himself and how much on whatever weird effect he was under. It would have made sense to at least have Aarindarius look into it.

It might mean that Kyrie doesn't trust V all that much... or, as Porthos said, there were already pre-existing tensions. Which is sad.

Spoiler

Show

I don't think we WILL have a second tedious trial scene, because that WOULD be tedious. I find it more likely that this will just serve as a prompt for Vaarsuvius to get off his elven behind and start trying to fix his marital situation.

[Omegonthesane]

But we may be getting a hint that V will really need those diamond in the future.

Alternately, we could be in for a one-panel statement that Durkon went in separately and bought the diamond dust instead.

[Porthos]

Wait a mo...

We are 40+ posts in and NO ONE has asked the rather obvious running gag rethorical question yet about Kyrie's motivations.

I am soooo dissapointed in all of you.

[doliest]

Again, probably something you should at least have some mental preparation for when you're married to a significantly powerful wizard. I mean, if we're assuming that his spouse still believes him under the influence of all-consuming evil (probably the best assumption), what kind of dumbass would she be to try and divorce him? All-consuming evil probably has no qualms with skinning ex-wives alive and making quilts of their epidermis.

I'm thinking that even in the context of the OOTS-verse, what V did was worthy of divorce. Really I doubt the spouse it blaming mind-control it seems more likely he/she's realized where V's priority's are.

[Zanaril]

Wait a mo...

We are 40+ posts in and NO ONE has asked the rather obvious running gag rethorical question yet about Kyrie's motivations.

I am soooo dissapointed in all of you.

What running gag/rhetorical question?


@V you see, this is what happens when I purposely make myself forget about things.

[Dark Faun]

The "morally justified" one.

It seems Kyrie still resents Vaarsuvius for not devoting every single moment of her life to her and their children. She doesn't seem to like the idea of V having other priorities besides them.

[Porthos]

What running gag/rhetorical question?

I have no idea what you are talking about.

*tries to look innocent*

I'm thinking that even in the context of the OOTS-verse, what V did was worthy of divorce. Really I doubt the spouse it blaming mind-control it seems more likely he/she's realized where V's priority's are.

So you're saying that Kyrie was morally justified when he decided to sue Suvie for a divorce?

*lights flash paper*
*runs away, incredibly fast*

....

The "morally justified" one.

*ducks back in for a sec*

Yeah. That's the one.

*resumes running away*

[Prak]

Well this only confirms what was known for a while now: V's mate is an ungrateful arrogant sod who never understood V at all.

Hopefully V gets decent custody arrangements with the children and never has to interact with his supposed other half ever again.

I can say with some related-but-not-direct-experience that even if this is the case, V's going to be pretty devastated for some time. Shi seems to truly love hir spouse, and even if this is a kick to the nuts (ovaries?) and V winds up realizing what a sorry excuse for a person Kyrie is (may be), it's going to hurt like hell. In fact any pain shi may be in while paying the cost of the splice will seem like a caress compared to the pain of the love of your life kicking you to the floor without so much as a hesitant thought because they have no use for you anymore.

Expect V to get some RP experience and maybe an apprentice.

[Joerg]

Poor V. I don't think anyone expected that of the turban wizard.

It would be very suicidal of him to provoke V in order to get him to say his name if V was still soul-spliced. I can't believe that was the original plan. Neither does it make sense to provoke random wizards and get lightning bolts (or similar) again and again until finally you find the right one.

Therefore, my theory is that the turban guy knew it was V, and also knew that the soul-splice had ended. It may be possible that the divorce should only take effect if V is either still soul-spliced or if he is still aggressive. Then, turban guy sees V in red robes, and must provoke him to find out whether the terms apply.

I don't really get the joke in the last panel. What item was summoned by whom? The legal papers by the turban wizard? But that only works if he had the papers before some time earlier, which seems implausible.

Also, only two days have passed since V was home? That means the ship passage to Sandsedge took at most one day. I had assumed a longer voyage.

[Blanth]

I feel sort of bad with the fact I could tell it was a summons as soon as I saw Turban Guy (Likely Not A Wizard At All) offering the scroll...

[lothos]

Now that's a classic strip. Great payoff from the last strip, it just seemed like turban guy was after the diamond dust, but........... :-)

And yes, I think V's mate probably was morally justified in suing for divorce :-)

Poor, poor V.

*Hugs Vaarsuvius*

Hey, at least I know of a nice evil drow you could get together with!

Or there's always Belkar.

"Expeditious Retreat!"

I guess the divorce wouldn't be happening if V had followed the "advice" of your avatar :-)

[sam79]

I'm thinking that even in the context of the OOTS-verse, what V did was worthy of divorce. Really I doubt the spouse it blaming mind-control it seems more likely he/she's realized where V's priority's are.

You are probably right; but I think Nevrmore's point was more that it was dangerous for Kyrie (and the kids) to potentially provoke Evil V by taking such a step, rather than unjustified.

Given that Evil V showed herself capable of wiping out the family of her enemies, putting yourself in the 'enemy' column by suing for divorce is probably not too sensible.

[Prak]

The "morally justified" one.

It seems Kyrie still resents Vaarsuvius for not devoting every single moment of her life to her and their children. She doesn't seem to like the idea of V having other priorities besides them.

I was thinking referencing the eternal question of V's gender. In real life (US at least) failure to consumate is grounds for divorce and annulment...

[Porthos]

It seems Kyrie still resents Vaarsuvius for not devoting every single moment of her life to her and their children. She doesn't seem to like the idea of V having other priorities besides them.

What on earth do you base that on?

There's a wee bit of a difference between "Hey I haven't seen you in years, and now you're here all Glowy and Evil. What's up with that?" and "drop everything you are doing and wait on me hand and foot" you know.

Maybe we should try to get Kyrie's side of the story first before, you know, saying that he's a total *BOOP*.

[Prak]

I don't really get the joke in the last panel. What item was summoned by whom? The legal papers by the turban wizard? But that only works if he had the papers before some time earlier, which seems implausible.

It's a play on words. To "summon" something is to call it to hand, a "summons" is a court calling someone to appear.

[Lord_Ventnor]

The "morally justified" one.

It seems Kyrie still resents Vaarsuvius for not devoting every single moment of her life to her and their children. She doesn't seem to like the idea of V having other priorities besides them.

I think it's less "other priorities" and more "just one priority."

And if you think that one priority is V's marriage, I have a bridge to sell you.

[doliest]

The "morally justified" one.

It seems Kyrie still resents Vaarsuvius for not devoting every single moment of her life to her and their children. She doesn't seem to like the idea of V having other priorities besides them.

Let's see what ONLY V's mate knows just because I like a challenge.

• V has been gone for six years
• V has transformed his self severly and now looks like a vampire
• V has just wiped out an entire 1/4th of a population
• V stated that he is making a deal with INFERNALS in order to save them
• V refuses to end the deal after saving them
• V leaves them in order to conduct 'further business.'

Honestly this is one step below, 'Convicted serial killer' on reasons to divorce.

Edit:Above poster made a good point above.

[oxinabox]

poor V.
poor poor V.
Off topic, i'm going to miss beklar...

[Prak]

This is why I think V was mistaken in falling in love with a baker and not a fellow arcanist. A fellow arcanist will understand his everlasting quest for ultimate arcane power, and even help (with the assumption that they'll share it, and anything short of a pair of saturday morning cartoon villians or yuppies would)

Edit:Above poster made a good point above.

really? you'd divorce over that? I'd at least want to know their reason for commiting murder. and being the evil bastard I am, the list of acceptable reasons... well, exists...

[sam79]

Also, only two days have passed since V was home? That means the ship passage to Sandsedge took at most one day. I had assumed a longer voyage.

Yeah that make me think too. I suppose Strip 672 could imply a short voyage; after a couple of short conversations, the ship is already in sight of land. I had just kinda assumed that a fair bit of time (a week, perhaps?) had passed between the last two panals.

[KIDS]

Poor poor poor V :(