Rachel (admiralshazbot) says: And things get ≤i≥interesting≤/i≥.
klara (lovenmitt) says: That. Lion. Is so. CUTE.
K. Myers (bassetking) says: Leo is so concerned in that fourth pannel.
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: “My fate is in the hands of a cross-dressing loon who claims to be with the government? Maybe I was better off with the monkeys.”
Sor Cyress (sorcyress) says:
Okay, the subtle “I don’t know if you can see colour” thing is totally adorable. Many hearts for Shaenon and Jeff.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
???!?!
If he thinks he looks hot now, why was he grumbling about it at the beginning of the comic?!
Joe Hoffman (joe6pack) says:
The purple knight says: “… Unity has pink hearts on her sweatshirt…”
World War I aviators used to paint a little airplane on the side of their fuselage for every enemy plane they shot down. Maybe she’s historically conscious.
David Harmon (mental_mouse) says:
“Steve Ford: Sorry, that should have been ‘the opening to the filename story…’, (that is, I dropped a ‘the’). As Valerie Kaplan noticed, this strip, like Narbonic, has ‘peculiar’ filenames for the individual strips — over time, the words of the filenames will form a separate story in the strip’s world.”
Valerie has been accumulating (and re-punctuating) the Narbonic story (which continues into the Director’s Cut), but I don’t have time to deal with posting a link now, as I’m heading off to slightly cooler climes for the weekend… (My family rescheduled Chanukka…. 😉 )
Ed Gedeon (eddurd) says:
Soitbegins: I don’t think Tip was grumbling, just expositing. Yes, my vocabulary word for today is “expositing”.
Now I want to buy my mother a flowering shrub called a “silver peony”. Please tell me such a thing actually exists.
Valerie Kaplan (shinyhappygoth) says:
The Skin Horse filename story is only partway into its second sentence, I’m afraid:
“Tip wore white to the final test: a vintage 1930s day dress, low neckline, open sleeves, possibly a Vionnet. As he’d hoped, the bias cut flattered…”
Steve Ford (sford) says:
GAHH! One disadvantage of simply following the comic and not paying much attention to comments or message boards is you miss a lot of stuff. I’ve been reading Narbonic since about the second story arc of its first run, and I NEVER KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT THE FILE NAMES! (I also forget to look at the Qwantz image title most of the time.)
Thank you David and Valerie. I’ve got some catching up to do.
Steve Ford (sford) says: (You must admit that to somebody who doesn’t know about it, a sentence that refers to a “filename story” would be pretty unparseable…)
Rachel S. (masamage) says: “The purple knight says: … Unity has pink hearts on her sweatshirt…”
“World War I aviators used to paint a little airplane on the side of their fuselage for every enemy plane they shot down. Maybe she’s historically conscious.”
Oh my gosh. Best. Ever.
Sean Kinlin (seaking) says:
Holy Sh**!! I never knew there was a story in the Narbonic image filenames! Perhaps this has been mentioned in the forums, but I’ve never gotten around to reading them.
Every time I think Shaenon couldn’t be more brilliant, it turns out that she is!
Thanks, Valerie, for compiling that stuff for easy reading. (how did anyone ever notice that, anyway?)
bzzzzd (bzzzzd) says:
QUOTE: Sam Daniel (samhdaniel) says: “bzzzzd: the shooting is the boom-boom-pow!”
Oh, come now! Mell could make more boom-boom and pow with her dainty fist than most could with a room full of armaments. Unity looks to be of like ability.
Lawrence Busch (knexer) says: Oh My Stars and Garters… It is thing like this that make me realize just how useless and unaccomplished my life really is. I am in awe. Thanks Valerie.
James Rice (jhrice) says:
Actually, several of us noticed the filename store as soon as it started. We had discovered a flaw in the Narbonic web site security that alowed a sneek-peek at up comming strips. To combat this, Shaenon started adding text to the file names to slow us down.
FYI: That level of Narbonic enjoyment is “way-point three” on the “Path to Enlightenment” in the Narbonic Defence Council.
Very few people know this though, Repeating from memory is also part of the ritual to join the inner circle ,of the Royal Order, of the Disciples of Shaenon.
And if someone has to explain what those sentences mean, then tear up you Narbonic Fan Club card.
Valerie Kaplan (shinyhappygoth) says: Welcome, all! I don’t know about other readers, but I first realized it was there when I was rereading the archives while stuck on dial-up, and as each image loaded and was listed in the status bar, I thought, hey, those filenames seem sort of… coherent…
Owl Who says South (owlsayssouth) says:
hm. more and more i have to wonder about this “doc”. conflicting thoughts and spoken words. strangeness. the gender blur.
i think this “tip” is… dare i say it…
Mad?
Damien Neil (damien) says: Has anyone noted yet that “Tip” is the name Ozma went by when transformed into a boy? (Which is a spoiler for Lost Princess of Oz, I suppose, but I think the statue of limitations has expired on that one.) Much though I would like to take credit for noticing this, however, I can’t; I needed to have it pointed out to me by my girlfriend. My Oz-fu has grown weak.
Shaenon Garrity (shaenongarrity) says:
In fact Tip transforms in the second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz. OMG 104-YEAR-OLD SPOILER.
Robin Zimmermann (packbat) says: Hey, I haven’t finished the Oz books yet! WHY NO SPOILER WARNINGS OMFG *flails*
Michael Brewer (wusemajor) says:
I love Leo’s expression in the last panel where he is realizing what some of the ramifications of Tip’s statement in the second panel are. Actually, I rather like all of Leo’s expressions. He has a very expressive face for a Lion
And, yeah, I know it was last week but I only just got the account, I also wanted to say that I liked Tip’s “Everyone likes a listener” bit. The joke works especially well for the Narbonic readers used to Zeta using that line to get out of trouble. Tip really needs to learn that you need to actually listen if you want to pull that off.
Rachel (admiralshazbot) says: And things get ≤i≥interesting≤/i≥.
klara (lovenmitt) says: That. Lion. Is so. CUTE.
K. Myers (bassetking) says: Leo is so concerned in that fourth pannel.
Dave Van Domelen (dvandom) says: “My fate is in the hands of a cross-dressing loon who claims to be with the government? Maybe I was better off with the monkeys.”
Sor Cyress (sorcyress) says:
Okay, the subtle “I don’t know if you can see colour” thing is totally adorable. Many hearts for Shaenon and Jeff.
So It Begins (soitbegins) says:
???!?!
If he thinks he looks hot now, why was he grumbling about it at the beginning of the comic?!
Joe Hoffman (joe6pack) says:
The purple knight says: “… Unity has pink hearts on her sweatshirt…”
World War I aviators used to paint a little airplane on the side of their fuselage for every enemy plane they shot down. Maybe she’s historically conscious.
David Harmon (mental_mouse) says:
“Steve Ford: Sorry, that should have been ‘the opening to the filename story…’, (that is, I dropped a ‘the’). As Valerie Kaplan noticed, this strip, like Narbonic, has ‘peculiar’ filenames for the individual strips — over time, the words of the filenames will form a separate story in the strip’s world.”
Valerie has been accumulating (and re-punctuating) the Narbonic story (which continues into the Director’s Cut), but I don’t have time to deal with posting a link now, as I’m heading off to slightly cooler climes for the weekend… (My family rescheduled Chanukka…. 😉 )
Ed Gedeon (eddurd) says:
Soitbegins: I don’t think Tip was grumbling, just expositing. Yes, my vocabulary word for today is “expositing”.
Now I want to buy my mother a flowering shrub called a “silver peony”. Please tell me such a thing actually exists.
Valerie Kaplan (shinyhappygoth) says: David: Here you go! http://purplemagpie.0catch.com/narbonic/filenames.txt
Valerie Kaplan (shinyhappygoth) says:
The Skin Horse filename story is only partway into its second sentence, I’m afraid:
“Tip wore white to the final test: a vintage 1930s day dress, low neckline, open sleeves, possibly a Vionnet. As he’d hoped, the bias cut flattered…”
Steve Ford (sford) says:
GAHH! One disadvantage of simply following the comic and not paying much attention to comments or message boards is you miss a lot of stuff. I’ve been reading Narbonic since about the second story arc of its first run, and I NEVER KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT THE FILE NAMES! (I also forget to look at the Qwantz image title most of the time.)
Thank you David and Valerie. I’ve got some catching up to do.
Steve Ford (sford) says: (You must admit that to somebody who doesn’t know about it, a sentence that refers to a “filename story” would be pretty unparseable…)
Rachel S. (masamage) says: “The purple knight says: … Unity has pink hearts on her sweatshirt…”
“World War I aviators used to paint a little airplane on the side of their fuselage for every enemy plane they shot down. Maybe she’s historically conscious.”
Oh my gosh. Best. Ever.
Sean Kinlin (seaking) says:
Holy Sh**!! I never knew there was a story in the Narbonic image filenames! Perhaps this has been mentioned in the forums, but I’ve never gotten around to reading them.
Every time I think Shaenon couldn’t be more brilliant, it turns out that she is!
Thanks, Valerie, for compiling that stuff for easy reading. (how did anyone ever notice that, anyway?)
bzzzzd (bzzzzd) says:
QUOTE: Sam Daniel (samhdaniel) says: “bzzzzd: the shooting is the boom-boom-pow!”
Oh, come now! Mell could make more boom-boom and pow with her dainty fist than most could with a room full of armaments. Unity looks to be of like ability.
Lawrence Busch (knexer) says: Oh My Stars and Garters… It is thing like this that make me realize just how useless and unaccomplished my life really is. I am in awe. Thanks Valerie.
James Rice (jhrice) says:
Actually, several of us noticed the filename store as soon as it started. We had discovered a flaw in the Narbonic web site security that alowed a sneek-peek at up comming strips. To combat this, Shaenon started adding text to the file names to slow us down.
FYI: That level of Narbonic enjoyment is “way-point three” on the “Path to Enlightenment” in the Narbonic Defence Council.
Very few people know this though, Repeating from memory is also part of the ritual to join the inner circle ,of the Royal Order, of the Disciples of Shaenon.
And if someone has to explain what those sentences mean, then tear up you Narbonic Fan Club card.
Valerie Kaplan (shinyhappygoth) says: Welcome, all! I don’t know about other readers, but I first realized it was there when I was rereading the archives while stuck on dial-up, and as each image loaded and was listed in the status bar, I thought, hey, those filenames seem sort of… coherent…
Owl Who says South (owlsayssouth) says:
hm. more and more i have to wonder about this “doc”. conflicting thoughts and spoken words. strangeness. the gender blur.
i think this “tip” is… dare i say it…
Mad?
Damien Neil (damien) says: Has anyone noted yet that “Tip” is the name Ozma went by when transformed into a boy? (Which is a spoiler for Lost Princess of Oz, I suppose, but I think the statue of limitations has expired on that one.) Much though I would like to take credit for noticing this, however, I can’t; I needed to have it pointed out to me by my girlfriend. My Oz-fu has grown weak.
Shaenon Garrity (shaenongarrity) says:
In fact Tip transforms in the second Oz book, The Marvelous Land of Oz. OMG 104-YEAR-OLD SPOILER.
Robin Zimmermann (packbat) says: Hey, I haven’t finished the Oz books yet! WHY NO SPOILER WARNINGS OMFG *flails*
Michael Brewer (wusemajor) says:
I love Leo’s expression in the last panel where he is realizing what some of the ramifications of Tip’s statement in the second panel are. Actually, I rather like all of Leo’s expressions. He has a very expressive face for a Lion
And, yeah, I know it was last week but I only just got the account, I also wanted to say that I liked Tip’s “Everyone likes a listener” bit. The joke works especially well for the Narbonic readers used to Zeta using that line to get out of trouble. Tip really needs to learn that you need to actually listen if you want to pull that off.
Valerie’s link above is broken, but here’s a working one: https://web.archive.org/web/20080110193237/http://purplemagpie.0catch.com/narbonic/filenames.txt