I don't remember that being implied. I asked if something was changed or not because I hated how thing turned n the last strip. Rick then told us nothing was changed. End of discussion about this. Thankfully, Rick is strong to not let fans dominate his comic. Seems contradictory, but I'm disapointed with the story, not the author. But there are two more updates left and maybe that will change my opinion. or not. I'll wait and see.

That was hyperbole on my part, but you have to concede the talk about negative fan reaction negatively affecting the current arc's denouement was there.


Something being self-referential; viewed from a higher level above the one the subject operates on.

As applied to fiction this means references to narrative conventions and other literary tools are woven into the story. That's why Bahamut mentioned the omniscience problem; to acknowledge the fact they are, but that the story ignores this point because otherwise it couldn't have been conveyed.

We won't give up =p

Oh Rick... What have you done...

Rick your fans are gonna kill you! *dives in front of Rick like a secret service agent*

I'm scared Yes, I took the time to type every hah and heh.

Pete is going to tell Bailey about Kings past I bet

Well...on the plus side, this indicates that Bailey's existence and King's relationship with her is going to have bearing on what happens later....

I still am disappointed with "Show Business", but if the point was to have King "take matters into his own hands" for once, or whatever, I'm guessing that means we needn't be as worried as we might be.... In addition, the convergence of that arc, the last Keene arc, and this one is getting me stoked.... I'm VERY interested to see what's going to happen now....

Or it means nothing at all and Rick is just messing with us because we ticked him off before.

Hehehehe, I don't know why but that laugh was promising.
Wait I'm supposed to like King!
Crap... maybe I'm a sadist.
:I

Or we're going to be struck by some other terrible news that will end with a To Be Contined panel.

But this may suggest otherwise. Hmmmmm...
We'll probably be left in the dark on certain details regardless.

Or that. I wouldn't be surprised.

Don't tell me.... *runs to make a WILD MASS GUESS*

Pete has something up his sleeve. Dragon likes to force others to her way, I guess....

I like the steps leading out of the courthouse!

So why was Spirit Dragon absent from the trial?

She most likely thought that her being there was unnecessary.

Or this. I'm going to say this I just hope its not another full year before this is followed up on in some way, because while I hate The Nerds as characters I love this Storyline and hate it when it takes so long to get back to and move it forward. Though believe me I understand why Rick is reluctant to do them more.

But this is a nice progression, conflict is what makes stories exciting!
It was so boring having King be so carefree. Finally something to keep us tense!

Okay, it was SO obvious that Pete

1) had followed all developments of King's life
2) is still clinging to the idea of having him as an avatar
3) will do ANYTHING game-wise to get King back at his service

So the question is:

a) will Pete make it so to inflict pain to King's life without forcing his free will?
b) will King be the cause of his own downfall, with pete just waiting to welcome him back?

I tend for the b), since Pete should be smarter than drawing too much unwanted attention.

c) Dragon intervenes in some way using her followers and King is happy with whatever choice he makes whether it be human or dog.

In all seriousness though I think it's somewhere in the whole Keene getting rid of the temple in the backyard that'll be a big role. Or maybe...... Keene as his new Avatar! Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuun~!

I like where this is going.

That makes one and a half of us.

Pete's Avatar is the Joker.

Seriously.

That laugh...

I hope tis leads to a heart breaking scene where pete tries to ruin King's love life.

Why so serious? Mwahahahah
I just can't wait untill monday

I'll seriously not forgive pete if he tries to break King's heart.

totally this.

Or maybe King's just a masochist, it's right there in his description

Dark Knight was awesome, but whenever i hear Joker laugh like the way Pete laughed, Mark Hamill from the animated series comes into mind.

King/Bailey drama? Why not.

I never knew Pete was an antagonist before this point. Without the evil laugh to solidify his character, I felt like he was only half of who he was intended to be. Now that the laugh's out of the bag though, Pete can truly begin work to fulfill his destiny.

As for the additional strip coming on Monday, I'm going to take a guess that it'll have to do with King and Bailey doing... something together (talking on the phone or hanging out or something), and then King will feel 'something foul on the wind', triggering a worried look from Bailey and King making a comment about 'a disturbance in the force' or some similar line.

On the other hand, he didn't behave really heroic so far.

The only thing that we could possibly be sure of right now is that he's a jerk

Even before the current revelations he acted more villainous than anything else.

Now we know he send one or more people to their death for his own amusement what puts him dangerously close to Complete Monster territory.

I...didn't get that at all. All I got is that his avatars have died--and who DOESN'T? And he was SADDENED by this, so his "jerk" persona is a coping mechanism so he won't get too attached anymore and be so devastated.

Well, before we knew all this what he did to King sure looked villainous, didn't it?

And since this one avatar/chess piece was strongly implied to be a Joan of Arc analogue she most probably died a premature and violent death. Yeah, he may have cried but if he really cared he wouldn't have participated in the game in the first place. That makes him worse than a mere jerk.

tricky tricky here.
for how much I am tempted to say that in the previous game Pete cried only for the demise of his precious avatar, the way he was depicted in the previous panel showed some...sweetness. perhaps, THAT time he had nurtured a genuine affection, who knows?
But there is another aspect to consider: unless the nerds collected avatars and kept them in frozen time capsules, it's sure they see them die one after the other in what is for them a very short time. heck, either Dragon has a whole immortal army, or in 5000 years she lost a lot of avatars.
It tends to harden one's heart against loss...

...or tarot may not know all the truth...

You know that's a good point actually how much does Tarot or any of the Avatars know about whats going on? Because remember Pete tricked King into thinking he didn't have a choice (as far as I understand it) and that's the only reason Kitsune ruled against him. They could technically just lie to the Avatar (like say that they needed their help to stop some kind of invasion or save the world in some way.) as long as the Avatar thinks they can say no. Or am I forgetting something here?

Edit: And if you think about it Tarot/Dragon did basically lie to Peanut and Grape she made it seem like letting Pete out would be a horrible world ending thing when the reality is the only thing it did was make it a bit harder for her to win a stupid game.

yes, true that, Kitsune, but...
There is a chance that Tarot is acting in good faith: she doesn't know everything because the game (according to Pete's explanation at the trial) is not about the avatars interacting with their 'masters', but fighthing against each other! King was supposed to grow in power and fight Dragon's avatar. All Tarot is allowed to know is that grave perils await the losers, because she needs to be focused over her mission. If she started thinking 'oh well, this game is only a hobby for the nerds to pass the time', she'd easily lose her focus and ironically depower herself