Order of the Stick - Book 5 Discussion Thread

[Malleus_Incus_Stapes]

@Little_Nemo

It’s always hard to tell given the level of art in the strip but Tarquin seems to be waiting in the penultimate panel. It looks like he knows the arrow is going to explode and has already incorporated this into his plans. Which is not improbable given what we’ve seen of Tarquin.

I took that to be more of a “Huh, this arrow has something suspicious attached, I think I may have just made a mistake…” sort of pause.

[Peter_Morris]

Very possible, but then again, all succubi have innate talents in the sexual arena.

@Little_Nemo

True, but Tarquin was saying he could personally attest to her skills.

I’m not sure he said that. He mentions her most useful skillset. Having sex with her might be fun, but he wouldn’t describe it as useful. I think he was saying that she has a skillset that is more useful than sex.

It would imply that she used to work for him. Not as his personal sex toy, though.

[thinksnow]

You’ll notice that Tarquin doesn’t react when the arrow goes off, as Nale does. Seems to imply he was expecting it.

[Leaper]

@thinksnow

You’ll notice that Tarquin doesn’t react when the arrow goes off, as Nale does. Seems to imply he was expecting it.

With that helmet, how can you tell?

[thinksnow]

He doesn’t jerk his head to the side or move his body (it appears).

[Little_Nemo]

As I said, it’s hard to tell sometimes with stick figure art. But like thinksnow, it appears to me that Tarquin wasn’t surprised by the explosion.

I guess we’ll all just have to wait until August to find out.

[Yllaria]

Could be that he noticed the attachment after he caught it and before it blew. If he’d had half a second more, he’d have thought “Clever girl.”

[mlees]

What is the meaning of the title of this latest installment [858, “Actually, she did”]?

She slept with Tarquin?

[Hal_Briston]

Nale: “I guess she didn’t learn that you could just snatch her arrows out of the --”

Rich: “Actually, she did.”

[mlees]

@Hal_Briston

Nale: “I guess she didn’t learn that you could just snatch her arrows out of the --”

Rich: “Actually, she did.”

:smack:

Thanks!

[Alessan]

@thinksnow

You’ll notice that Tarquin doesn’t react when the arrow goes off, as Nale does. Seems to imply he was expecting it.

Or maybe he’s just. That. Cool.

[Lok]

Good News! For me at least. Got email from Ookoodook that my stuff has now shipped.

[One_And_Only_Wanderers]

@Lok

Good News! For me at least. Got email from Ookoodook that my stuff has now shipped.

Me too!

[Jonathan_Chance]

What package did you get? I still haven’t got mine.

[One_And_Only_Wanderers]

im all the books and associated goodies apart from the prequels (which I already have)

[DesertDog]

@Little_Nemo

True, but Tarquin was saying he could personally attest to her skills.

This might explain why Sabine seems so hostile to Tarquin. She’s not only matching Nale’s hostility towards his father but she’s also aware Tarquin has the ability to hurt her relationship with Nale by telling Nale what happened.

My WAG: We’ve seen Sabine has a casual attitude about sex - for her, having sex with somebody appears to be no more significant than having a meal with them. But she’s in love with Nale. And she’s now found out that Nale has jealousy issues and doesn’t share her casual attitude about having sex with other people. So she may have slept with Tarquin at some earlier period before she realized it would bother Nale. And now that she does know this, she’s worried about Nale finding out.

I don’t think so. An earlier strip had her sexing with three or four people when she and Nale were apart for a few hours; it would have been more but she was busy. The point is, Nale knows about it and doesn’t care, and Sabine knows he knows. Surely, he loves her but sharing her favors with others is part of the deal. Unless it’s the ick factor of Tarquin being a relative.

[MrDibble]

@DesertDog

I don’t think so. An earlier strip had her sexing with three or four people when she and Nale were apart for a few hours; it would have been more but she was busy. The point is, Nale knows about it and doesn’t care

He seemed to care, in the last panel of that strip.

[Lok]

Same for me.

[DesertDog]

@MrDibble

He seemed to care, in the last panel of that strip.

That’s the one I was looking for. My take on his expression was not shock that she was sleeping around on him, but the sheer number in such a short time, plus the kicker, “I had errands to run, too.”

[Little_Nemo]

I obviously agree that Nale and Sabine have different views on sex. To me the key line was the penultimate panel: “So…you wouldn’t have been upset if I had been seducing her?” Nale wouldn’t have asked this question if he had been aware of Sabine’s casual attitude towards sex. And there was this strip which clearly shows there are jealousy issues at play.