2014/04/30 - Contractual Obligations

[Karl]

GO PETE!!!

[Acritic2]

Also since, as per this strip, Pete doesn't actually need this gambit and there are too many ways for King to get out of it why is Pete even bothering at this point?

He called King his "plan B", so I assume the little corgi is still his best shot at this, and we all know Pete's not above a little coercion.

this brings up a new issue though. Pete said that the dark paladin (king) is powered by discontent,that means that now that king has fallen in love and gotten married (happily) that he is weaker since he enjoys life as a dog. Petes gambit to make him into an unhappy angry dog failed, he is still somewhat discontent, but less so than if he hadn't met Bailey, he still wants the ordeal to end but it looks to me like the ball is ever so slightly in petes court.

Ohno, Oh freak'in no, I think I got Pete's plan right here!
What if he turns back into King's (Owner) and takes King back and away from Baily?
*Pulls out Mark 2(sniper rifle)*
I got my sites on you pete and your followers.

GO PETE!!!

*Shoots Karl in the leg*
What was that Karl?

[DingoVolf]

Gah, I keep wanting King to go something like "Forget this! Bailey, I love you more than to keep this from you any longer... <spills beans>". I know, won't happen, but... I guess that's what fanfiction is for? :)

[GameCobra]

I don't think Bailey is a Dark Paladin. She isn't prone to the grumps. Pete said that Dark Paladins are powered by discontent, which doesn't seem to fit Bailey at all. She was content even when her old family had to give her up and agrees with Sasha that King always focuses on the negative.

The way I see it, he's not going to touch Bailey at all. The whole point of the contract however is to scare King.

Bailey could be a Avatar to Pete, but we know Pete won't go through the effort for it unless it helps him get King in the end. but even if King didn't believe it to be possible, he forgets that if Bailey found out who he really was, there could be a potential problem where Pete will get what he wants out of Bailey, and even if he didn't, that won't stop King for worrying about it and i'm sure that's what Pete is going to count on.

[valerio]

King and Bailey will remain together. As a couple. As dogs.
The banner says so. <3

[Tooths]

I'm hoping that King will reveal his secrets, but still be able to stay a Corgi. Or maybe be able to switch in-between being a dog and a human.
That'd be... Something.

[Cesco]

King figured out that he's not your avatar for the game, Pete. There's something else, where the pride isn't cared... They made Bailey woke up, what could she see now? What could happen? The secret's revelation may be near.

[MrParaduo]

I look forward to the plausible event when a darker, more sinister evil appears in the story, forcing Pete and the Spirit Dragon to call a temporary truce of minor (in)convenience... and it's name shall be Little Cthulhu.

Or something along those lines, I dunno.

[Dissension]

I swear if Bailey is also a Dark Paladin I'll be back when this whole thing is over with. I really, really hope this Arc is the last time we have to deal with this Cosmic Nerd stuff.

To clarify what's happening from the position of an attentive fan, rather than a staff member, a couple of celestial teenagers are vying for control of their geeky gaming group, the U & U Basement Crew. These entities elected to play a side-game in the Housepets! universe to determine who would be the group leader. Once this has been done, they have no further business in that universe and, thus, this comic. Due to a small, yet extraordinarily vocal, number of readers who throw a hissy fit every time this story line comes up, Rick decided to rush things along. Thus, the comic will focus primarily on this plot line for the next several months to draw it to a rapid conclusion, rather than spreading events out over multiple arcs, which could take years.

[PIERULEZ]

King and Bailey + pete in the same comic strip=bad
Also, can't wait until Friday! !!

[TheWolfKin]

I swear if Bailey is also a Dark Paladin I'll be back when this whole thing is over with. I really, really hope this Arc is the last time we have to deal with this Cosmic Nerd stuff.

To clarify what's happening from the position of an attentive fan, rather than a staff member, a couple of celestial teenagers are vying for control of their geeky gaming group, the U & U Basement Crew. These entities elected to play a side-game in the Housepets! universe to determine who would be the group leader. Once this has been done, they have no further business in that universe and, thus, this comic. Due to a small, yet extraordinarily vocal, number of readers who throw a hissy fit every time this story line comes up, Rick decided to rush things along. Thus, the comic will focus primarily on this plot line for the next several months to draw it to a rapid conclusion, rather than spreading events out over multiple arcs, which could take years.

That's part of what saddens me. The overarching Celestial plot has been a personal favourite of mine since the beginning. Then again, I'm a big fan of epic plots and character development. Doesn't hurt that this plot brought King into the picture.


In non-reply commentary: Every way that I can imagine this going ends in tragedy. I don't like those odds. Poor King, and poor Bailey.

Curse you, Pete! *Waves fist dramatically*

[WhoElseButQuagmire]

"Wait a minute! This is a contract to star as a kid's edutainment TV show host!"
"Ach! Darn ferrets! I'll be right back."

[aBritishfox]

Plot Twist:

Bailey is actualy an avatar herself.

[WhoElseButQuagmire]

These entities elected to play a side-game in the Housepets! universe to determine who would be the group leader. Once this has been done, they have no further business in that universe and, thus, this comic. .[/color]

What about the Dragon loves Peanut aspect of it? Is that officially dead? I for one wouldn't mind seeing her still try to profess her love for him, possibly to the extent that she offers to give up her immortality for him. I realize it would be something of a slippery slope to keep her from seeming like a creepy stalker, but I think Rick is a good enough writer that he could handle it if he chooses to go that route.

[Dissension]

Have you read this strip and, for context, the arc in which it appears?

[Lucid_Dragon]

Though Pete gets a lot of ire from fans, personally, I like the cosmic nerd plot to a degree. I have high hopes for the resolution, and while before I was worried out of my mind, I've learned to appreciate the delicate balancing act of deception King is trying to pull off while fending off a certain malicious blue buzzard. That said, while I am extremely interested to see how this goes, I hope it's either not rushed too much, or we still get to see the cosmic characters even after the completion of the duel. Pete is a villain who I, along with others, love to hate; Spirit Dragon's interest in "lesser beings" is also an interesting plot to explore. Even characters we don't see as much, like Great Kitsune and Cerberus, could have very interesting backstories.

EDIT: If the cosmic characters don't show up after the completion of this/these arc(s), I at least hope there will be "epic" storylines of that caliber in the future.

[bug1]

AWESOME!!!! I can't believe it, back to the interesting stuff!!

But don't you dare sine that thing King don't you dare!

[Argent]

Due to a small, yet extraordinarily vocal, number of readers who throw a hissy fit every time this story line comes up, Rick decided to rush things along. Thus, the comic will focus primarily on this plot line for the next several months to draw it to a rapid conclusion, rather than spreading events out over multiple arcs, which could take years.

Bummer. I like the silly chicken-vs-lizard plot. Maybe they can cameo in one-shots. I can see them sitting in the green room with Jinx and What Chicken waiting for a call.

Not that it matters, Rick said in Twitter that he's not reading any of the comments on this topic until the arc's over.

"Wait a minute! This is a contract to star as a kid's edutainment TV show host!"

Now that's a role I'd love to see King take on. We already know he looks dashing in costume.

[Frank]

What's this? A cosmic contract? I demand a cosmic lawyer! She must have three heads!

[GameCobra]

Good thing Pete didn't start singing "You Poor Unfortunate Soul"

[Render]

Oh dear Oh King
what have you done?
You invoke the Griffin
and now he has come,
with grin and contract,
to capture your name
before Bailey arrives
and enters the game.
So will you sign it?
Will you be his avatar?
Will you deny him
and risk him going that far?
You've called him on pride
and he's tugging on yours
begging the question
Children. Feet or paws?

This. Is. Great!

Also, throwing my prediction in there: Pete basically says "With you turned back into a human, she's going to feel quite betrayed. The heartbreak would consume her, making her the very image of misery...She'd make an even better avatar than you would. >:)" This would lead to King begging to become the avatar to protect her. After signing the contract, King would then wake up back in bed, it having been a dream ("or was it?" ) and Bailey not knowing about the deal.

That is very possible.

Every way that I can imagine this going ends in tragedy. I don't like those odds. Poor King, and poor Bailey.

And poor Fox. I assume that King's secret will be revealed, this will break Fox again as another of his close friends has a secret deep inside him that he didn't share with him. The last time we saw Fox, he was pretty down from what came to his ears. I would like to have seen him again before this happens to see if he is over with this already.

[Prof]

I can imagine Bailey seeing Pete and shouting: "What are you doing here? Haven't you caused enough mayhem the last time?"

With other words: I wouldn't be surprised if they're know each other

[Iceheart]

Plot Twist:

Bailey is actualy an avatar herself.

Great, now I'm imagining Bailey being the kitsune's avatar and I can't make a good scenario out of that

[Acritic2]

What's this? A cosmic contract? I demand a cosmic lawyer! She must have three heads!

Did Cerebrus even go to any celestial law school? Hydra might have (assuming there is one), but with Cerebrus I'm pretty sure she doesn't even work anywhere near that field of work anymore.

[Dissension]

Great, now I'm imagining Bailey being the kitsune's avatar and I can't make a good scenario out of that

Kitsune is the game master and, as such, does not have an avatar. He's around mostly to ensure fair play.

[aBritishfox]

Great, now I'm imagining Bailey being the kitsune's avatar and I can't make a good scenario out of that

Kitsune is the game master and, as such, does not have an avatar. He's around mostly to ensure fair play.

*Giggles* I'm sure some random cosmic nerd is playing as well...Would be amazing if Diss was the nerd
I like nerds, I'm a space geek...I could be the nerd....Bwahaha, just kidding.

[Argent]

Maybe there's Cosmic 4channers sneaking into the game to spoil things.

[Noir The Sable]

I'll put this comment here so as to not spread it among other threads where it hasn't come up. Just as someone who also really enjoyed this plotline and involved characters, I also think it's kind of unfortunate that Rick's trying to wrap this arc up and permanently shelve these characters quickly because of a small (albeit very vocal) minority of readers.

To be clear, I do and will respect his decisions -- it's his comic -- as long as he's satisfied with the end product. You aren't going to please everyone in your audience no matter which direction you take, after all -- it's like that for anything with an audience. I've just seen one too many works in the past where the author or authors decided to follow the advice of a small group, and then either lost the majority in the process, or left the authors disappointed with how it ended up.

Kind of case in point: I'm not very fond of the Milton hijinks arcs, but it would be a TERRIBLE idea to cut them from the strip (as I believe many do like the comedic aspect, the whole Milton estate is behind the setting, and so many characters have ties to them).

But as long as Rick likes how it turns out and has no regrets, that's cool with me. Can't wait to see what's next.