Chapter 9 – Page 16
One more special thanks to the crew of Hijinks Ensue for lending us their likenesses. Go read their equally hilarious comic over at hijinksensue.com!
If you’re a new reader coming in from Hijinks Ensue, welcome! This might be a bad time in the story to start, though, so why not go to the first page and dig in?
And helloooo Payet.
nooooooo…… i hate that hat! hahahahahaha it totally fits him though
It so does. That’s a douchey hat if ever there was one.
(Apologies in advance if anyone here wears it and is not a douche >.<)
I propose we refer to his hat as an ass hat.
Ha! Haha.
Just to mention: Every character has someting in colour on him or her. Byron: Ring, Syr’nj: Piece amulet, Frigg: Bracelets, Gravedust: scarf. And Best? Right: The hat…
Um… There’s one more thing… The CEO/w\e guy has a pink tie.
Purple.
purple tie.
So if we see a purple guy in the comic, we know it’s him.
>guy
Bandit wears purple-bluish, for the record.
That was some nice team effort right here. I’m happy.
I have to admit I thought that was a tallit not a scarf.
Still convinced on the spur of the moment that Best’s player switched over to playing Bandit after leaving the party.
Yes. Yes, that is precisely the hat that Payet Best would wear.
This is not a compliment.
That is not Best.
Where are the popped collars? I think this is not Best. This has to be some sort of -trick-
Popped collars are too “then”. He’s all about the “me’. And that mouth? Definite Douchemouth. And asshattery.
A thought. What are the chances of Payet Best’s sepia world name being Payet Best?
Quite a bit above average I think.
Oh yeah, the fifth person is OBVIOUSLY Bandit.
No question about it, it’s for sure now. Payet’s just some random NPC or something.
bleeped name is probably the key here…
Huh. Never unveiled the bubble? Wonder what happened there- and what on earth HR is hoping to learn from this. Kinda strange that the “bubble” never showed up in the video he hoped would explain everything…
Being the CEO HR’s certainly aware of all that. He was probably trying to learn something from the characters’/players’ interviews.
Either that or the line “is one of my many stage personas” is key. To combine the obvious answer with the wild speculation on this thread, this player is in control of both Best and Bandit. I’m currently placing this as highly unlikely though.
Oh yes that would be funny. But we have seen them in the same room.
entire groups of multis are not uncommon on some MMOs… It’s not unheard of, even on MMOs that disallow that sort of thing. TELL me Best wouldn’t be the kinda guy to ignore a TOS?
He might just have multiple alts but his main is Best.
Pete’s “many personas” might explain why he wasn’t killed on cue, and why he’s still alive inside the game.
We are, according to Mr. Alt Text, looking at the real villain, after all.
That’s a much better reason why there aren’t any other “PCs” in the game world. Because there aren’t any other PCs in teh game world (other than Bandit maybe)
“We do know one thing however. Hurricane’s new Bubble interface is gonna be the Best thing ever!”
Peyet’s so old skool. I’d never say by looking at ‘im that he’s a thespian of ye old 8-bit theatre.
Do you think Bob and george are in his band?
YES! Oh my god YES!
He’s not old school he’s a douchbag hipster who likes the 8-bit because its not main stream. Well I could be wrong.
haha, douchebag hipster was my first thought too.
Cocky? Check.
Shameless self-pug? Check.
Awesome threads? Check.
The Best is the Best, virtual or reality.
I have found much pleasure in reading the last few pages.
If the fifth guy is Payet… who—wha—WHERE’S MAH BANDIT?!!?!? T_T
Wait…. OH! Bandit is some haxx kid who got in! I will put down like 5 cookies in that bet!!
No, Bandit is just a npc. A smart AI based on a multitude of fictional characters, players, and developers. She is 100% virtual but is sentient, and a mystery to Hurricane’s staff. The true reason behind bubble is then, not just to advance gaming, but to see just how the programs are evolving.
The fact that that is even possible is one of the reasons i don’t really like this new setting
Dude. Bandit’s color scheme = Purple. Mustache guy’s tie = Purple. It’s pretty obvious Bandit is the persona he uses to try to interact with these people. Since he’s working through a regular PC interface, he doesn’t need to stick to his general bodyshape/gender.
I like my idea better.
*holds tinfoil hat tight to my head*
Ahdok: I win!
aw lame.
Okay okay, I’ll draw you your beach scene.
It’ll take me a little while, because I’ve quite a lot of drawing on my plate this month, but I’ll get to work on it.
Know what’s funny? I did my end of the bet thinking you were 85% right.
Aw… you just wanted to draw frigg in a short white shift with angel wings.
Actually, I may just draw your request for giggles. The idea amused me a lot.
yanno, i forgot about the white gowns bit.
eh, i’ll hang onto the picture for the next time Phil asks for fan art or somethin’ :D
Yes, he would have a solo act, wouldn’t he?
All alone, in the dark…
He’s a solo mofo
I think he’s probably a handfo’.
Soooooo…Payet Best is David Bowie?
…
[b]I KNEW IT![/b]
AN EDIT BUTTON, AN EDIT BUTTON
MY KINGDOM FOR AN EDIT BUTTON!
Hm. How large is your kingdom? Condition? Any important alliances or tributes?
I looked at his lands. Apparently he owns a small, forsaken land known as New Jersey.
oh my gosh, the poor guy :(
You think the kingdom’s bad, just wait ’till you get to my subjects. A lazier, more disrespectful lot you won’t find outside of old racist stereotypes.
hey now. I like fedoras.
And Payet. I am not surprised in the least that he is as much a douchebag in real life as he is in game.
I don’t think that’s a fedora. Something about the brim seems a bit off it is supposed to be a fedora.
It’s a porkpie hat.
So “porkpie” is the new slang for what dogs do in the yard?
(cough) sorry, feelings are strong tonight…
Pigs, actually. Close, though.
Oooh! Never heard of that name before 8D I learn something new from this comic every time I read it. Thank you!
It’s not a fedora. Not a MAN’S fedora. Some foolish marketers sell them under the name “fedora”, inending to fool the unwary into buying an asshat, but they will BURN for their ERROR.
Okay, see, now I’m going to go back to hoping that Payet turns into a villain again. Why? Because if he’s played Final Fantasy VI (Releases as Final Fantasy III in the US, of course), then I think he’d totally go all Kefka. Which would be GREAT.
So a bunch of kids, for the most part.
Kind of makes me wonder how long they’ve been in there.
Less than seven years, because Arkerra was out on the market before they went in the bubbles, and the game has apparently been on the market for seven years total.
Other than that, it’s hard to pinpoint.
Best seems less douchey in the real world, more merely self-centered.
So now, was H.R. combing through the interviews looking for insight, or was he more interested in stuff we didn’t see?
I wonder if there’s a real pattern I’m noticing, that most of the players seem to have some religious symbol associated with them, mostly religious symbols that are displayed casually, as if in neglect of their significance:
1. Byron’s player wears a ring with a pentacle.
2. Gravedust’s player may be wearing a tallit, a Jewish prayer shawl — in the comments to the previous page, Maribel wondered if it would be inappropriate to wear it to a convention.
3. Syr’inj’s player is wearing peace sign earrings. According to Wikipedia, the peace sign was invented in 1958, but rumor has it has an older, occult meaning.
4. Payet Best’s player flashes the sign of the horns, which has various meanings, particularly warding off evil spirits.
I don’t spot anything in this theme in the image of Frigg’s player — maybe the wrist cuffs? All I came up with there was BDSM references.
If Gravedust is wearing a tallit, he’s wearing a symbol with a fairly clear significance, from a conventional religious tradition, whereas the other three examples are vaguely associated with the occult and have unclear significance.
Speculation: all five of them display symbols with spiritual significance, without being fully conscious of the meanings of those symbols, and by doing so, inadvertently cast a magic spell. Dedalus’s “Hm” was his recognizing Payet’s player flashing the sign of the horns, the missing element he hadn’t noticed before.
Bear in mind that the Qaballah has a ton of mystic stuff intertwined with it. If he’s Jewish, he may be a believer in that, as well.
Of course, it could also be a Dr Who scarf, which has an intense degree of iconography and belief piled upon it, and is easily worn to conventions.
Naah, 4’s scarf was longer and had many colors to it.
True, but there isn’t enough res to determine if it has any stripes, much less be Dr Joseph’s Scarf of Many Colors.
I’m not hugely sure about this one. If I were building this into a story deliberately, I’d go out of my way to make the connection consistent – so Best’s “religious thingie” would be also the “yellow thingie”. Rather than something he did in silhouette.
Yeah, I wasn’t that sure about this theory to begin with, and I’m less sure now, since no one pointed out anything I’d missed with Frigg’s player. Also, the authors seem to be very clear about the color coding, and otherwise making the connection between players and characters very clear, so it’s not consistent that they would be sloppy about presenting this, if my hypothesis were correct.
At this point, I’m left with, the sequence begins with Byron’s player’s pentacle ring, and ends with Best’s player’s sign of the horns, and that’s probably just a coincidence.
The origins of the peace sign are a little flaky. Depending on who you talk to, it’s a combination of the flag semaphore signals N and D (N being both flags diagonally down, D being one flag straight up, the other straight down), to stand for Nuclear Disarmament. To those who draw it wrong and leave out the center vertical pole, it’s a Mercedes-Benz logo. To others, it’s Nero’s Cross, an ancient Roman execution method–like crucifixion, but upside-down and far, FAR more painful of a way to die.
It’s not a tallit. You only wear that when you are praying, not out and about. There is a fringed garment that observant Jews wear, but it is worn under your shirt, never over. Sorry, most likely this is just a scarf.
Also, the fringes on a tallit bear little resemblance to those of a scarf. Note in particular the twined and multiple-knotted corner fringes, which are much longer than the tassle-like middle ones. We don’t see those in the “Gravedust” silhouette.
I just noticed HR is “Hmmm”-ing. Is it something that Best said? That NDA sounds pretty terminal though.
uh… an NDA? terminal?
Homicide would be one way to assure the “ND” bit. Dead men tell no tales.
I guess if you were trapped in a game world, you wouldn’t be able to disclose any information.
I think all cat videos hold a political meaning. ^_^
someone call sears, I found their lost tool shipment…
Yes
Douchey hipster hat alert!
Unwarranted self importance alert!
Shameless self-promoter alert!
Payet Best alert!
someone, please, shoot him now…
I’m begging you, webcomic peoples, just… just stop him
that hat makes him, somehow, even [i]worse[/i]
I think you meant the hat makes him,
somehow,
even BETTER.
no, the hat makes him Best.
HA! He wears a trilby…
It’s so fitting!
For a traitor…
Heh… *fistbump*
I don’t know… The obvious Payet Best nature of this guy almost makes me think that he’s not, in fact, Payet Best. As was said before, that bleeped name is most likely key.
I counter with Occam’s Razor.
And now we’re back to “BEARDS FOR THE BEARD GOD!”
We are at the sharp end of thought here…
How on earth did you manage to get to that pun without going through “razor wit” first?
It was just a scrape.
Perhaps with cutting edge technology?
Burn…
I’ve got a cold… My pun senses are dimmed….
Probably should have gone with “dulled”, but we won’t hold it against you… this can be such a cut throat hobby.
I used occam’s razor to shave my beard with. I know it’s a bit disrespectful, but I ran out of normal razors and I would have needed to read through an entire instruction manual to figure out how to get my electric razor working, so it seemed like the most obvious choice.
Aw man.
We’re set in the near future. (Anyone Best’s age right now would have lived through the 16 bit era.)
Unless Best is in his late teens and missed most of the 8-bit era.
But, yeah, judging by the tubes, I’d say we were near-future as well.
The Super Nintendo (arguably the starter of the 16-bit era) was released twenty years ago.
Who feels old now?
I didn’t realize that.
…I’m 23. :(
Well, honestly, I never owned a 16-bit system. I got an NES when I was six, and really only had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Super Mario Bros. 3 to play. My friend from across the street had the SNES, so we got to playing Megaman X2 and the Ninja Turtles fighting game a lot. (After that, I got a Sega Saturn, but this is already turning into an overly long origin story)
I never really got into the 8-bit era until I discovered emulators. Woe is me.
Mario 3 and TMNT 2 (the one that aped the arcade’s side-scroll beat-em-up) were the proverbial jams. I have an older sister, so I spent more than a few hours trying to master her copies of Barbie and The Little Mermaid.
LM was a surprisingly high quality of fun, having been made by Capcom. Hell, most of the Disney games of the era were awesome (SNES Aladin anyone?). The Barbie one, unsurprisingly, had function and skill as mere afterthoughts and it was difficult as fuck to play. But we were kids, so that didn’t deter us in the slightest from trying to achieve the ultimate goal: Waking up from a post-shopping nap in order to be on time for a date with Ken.
I had the shitty TMNT game, where you got stuck in the dam with the electric doohickeys.
I played the shit out of Aladdin when I finally got to, but the Turtles in Time SNES game was one of my favorites. Only ever beat it once, though, since my friends kept losing all the continues.
I’ve never played TiT and everyone keeps telling me it was the best ever. It’s on X-Box now, too, right? (not that I have one of those anyway, I’ve got the Wii)
They upped the graphics, I think. I know it’s on the PSN now.
It’s not the best ever, but it’s great fun.
Child. I used to rock out on Pong at a friend’s house when it’d just come out.
I was rocking out on BIT.TRIP beat yesterday… that’s kinda similar.
We had a coin-op pong machine in the garage.
Hmm. the Playstation is about 17 years old now, so if we assume that Best here is 18, he might well ahve missed the 16 bit era.
I keep forgetting that not everybody started playing videogames at the age of 3, like I did.
Man, now *I* feel old.
I never had a SNES (too poor) but I played the hell out of the oooooooold Nintendo. Y’know, the one that came with Duck Hunt and Super Mario on one cartridge…ugh. So old.
I can feel more gray hairs growing just thinking about it.
I started playing videogames at the age of 3 on a commodore 64. fwiw.
I did too! Start playing video games at the age of 3, that is. On a Super Nintendo.
Does that mean I’m older than Best? I guess he might have been born around the same time as me, but just got into video games later.
Also, I don’t feel old. :D
Yeah, definitely in this category as well. Don’t have an exact age, but I know it was before any schooling lol. Super Mario bros 3, Super Mario World, and Link to the Past pretty much ate up my childhood. Teen years spent on just about every gamecube rpg.
Dad was awesome for introducing me. Lots of father son bonding there.
I was BORN in the 16 bit/ NES age, but I wasn’t old enough to really appreciate it. I played a LOT of Megaman X and Donkey Kong Country. But I consider myself a child of the Age of Playstation more than anything else.
I was born before the Commodore 64 came out :P
I suppose I started playing video games young, but I never really considered arcade games in the same way I do home consoles. Yea, I used to play a lot of Pac Man when I was five, but so? Didn’t everyone who could reach the controls play something or other in the local arcade? :P
*raises hand*
*dies a little inside*
My fist computer was an original 1982 ZX Spectrum… that is all.
I didn’t own a computer until nearly 2000. But I learned computer crap on the ultra mega old, TSR 80. I was learning (gulp) BASIC. And the best computer in the school was a Tandy 1000 or some similar number.
If I were any older I think I’d be quoting some crap about adding machines now. >.<
I miss my Atari 400.
Though funnily enough I’m only 26.
My first console was a Magnavox Odyssey 300 followed by the Atari 2600 when it was released a few years later. When I was using a TRS80.. it was NEW.
Let’s see…I’m a year older than Pong. First computer – that Dad allowed me to use – was an Apple II. Before that, he had a Heath/Zenith CP/M machine…
*puts one foot in the box
NGL, I’m kinda disappointed with Best’s player. I was hoping for either a complete 180-personality type of person where everything the character has done has been nothing but wish fulfillment or someone who’s way OTT that Payet’s character is actually a watered down version of himself.
BRB, re-reading Frigg and Syr’s players again 8DDDDD
He does say he has multiple stage personas. This could merely be one of them.
Like Ali G
AKA Borat, Bruno and Sacha Baron Cohen. Yeah pretty similar.
If the the new Bandit-is-another-persona-of-Payet theory is correct that could explain Daedalus’ “Hmm” reaction. And why no Bandit tube.
Thanks -.- Now I will hear that insufferable voice every time Payet speaks.
*pukey face*
Granted, he’s not a character I respect, but I enjoy him anyway. Major entertainment, and he offers some pretty great perspective alongside the other players/characters.
Have to chime in after lurking for forever… Maybe the “hrm” is from the reference to multiple stage personas… What if, somehow, this douche is BOTH Payet and Bandit? Something went wrong and his personality fractured inside the game and created multiple characters?
No, HR is definitely Bandit, someone else already pointed out how he wears the purple tie and bandits color is purple in an earlier comic.
The Purple Tie could actually be a Red Herring.
I’m torn between being Tickled Pink at that possibility and Green with Envy that I didn’t think of it.
Darn it. Knowing that I was left out in a round of puns always leaves me Blue in the Gills.
Fret not! You can always Ketchup!
Yeah, Locke, don’t have such a Black outlook.
True, he always wears a purple tie… but he’s also got the type of hat that Bandit would probably love to steal, which is why I thought of that…
Eh, just a thought… ;)
Wait, wait… Don’t you get it?
“BLEEEEEEEEEEP” (with ten E’s, I counted) actually IS one of his many stage personas!
It’s like when Prince changed his name to that wacky symbol thing, and made everyone call him “the artist formerly known as Prince.” Shamelessly pretentious.
I see’s a Bandit methinks. Everyone else has been in front of the glass, (s)he’s behind it – if slightly reflected in it…
Oh look, Best was a douche in real life, too.
I would find it quite amusing if Bandit turns out to have been some reporter hunting for information on the bubble project, and got sucked in somehow. At this point that seems highly unlikely. The only reason the idea stuck me at all is because H.R. is focusing on the guy talking about hunting for information like the Fringe team (which made me snicker).
Love seeing the Hijinks dudes these past few comics, really good likness, and of course Eli ends it with more nonsense.
It’s Best. He referred to 8-bit and 16-bit games, which held dearly to the legacy and origin of the Final Fantasy series. To quote one of those games, and specifically refer to Payet: “You spoony bard!”
Thus. He’s ‘cached’ in on his assets to the ‘best’ of his ability.
I love that Payet’s smile breaks through the shadows. He cannot be veiled. _He can hardly be contained_
I find it amusing that his teeth are yellowed.
I bet the next ten strips are going to be those cat videos. Must say I’m super excited. Meow! =^.^=
Woe be unto those who tempt fate!
Which would be more proof that Best is actually Sheen. TIGER BLOOD!
I am now hoping that Best will end up being an alternate version of Charlie Sheen.
If it doesn’t, THERE IS ALWAYS FANFIC 8DDDDD *hides her FriggxSyrxByron OT3 outline*
I mean, hear hear!
I’m preparing my Anne BoleynxGravedust piece myself…
Wow, Best player is great too.
So he has multiple stage personas… Hum, that made me remember the total wipe incident, the way Harky dominated the scene so effectivelly.
Maybe Best’s player has Harky as an alt char?
And, since Byron and Best were the two players with more exposition… Maybe that means H.R. is more suspicious of those two?
Is Best one of those white boy poser rappers? Weird Al’s “I’m Rockin’ the Suburbs” comes to mind.
I think he’s more clueful than that — as in, he knows he’s referencing hiphop culture, but is at a remove from it.
I’m curious whether Best’s player is actually talented or not. I’m guessing he’s competent, but not exceptionally good, so that there’s an underlying insecurity to his pretentiousness, which would keep him on the same plane as the other players.
Er, Ben Folds wrote and performed “Rockin’ the Suburbs”, though Weird Al directed the video. At least I think that’s the song you’re referencing.
This has probably been mentioned before, but anyone else think that Dedalus looks like William Macy with a mustache? I think the resemblance is uncanny, personally.
2 things. First, I want that hat. Second, I am being sucked into this with shocking rapidity.
so, Real-Frigg is built like a fighter, Real-Gravedust is a philosopher, and Real-Best is a musician?
It’s looking a like their real world skills might translate.
But would that mean Real-Byron is a berserker?
He looks to be in his middle or late twenties. A few times we’ve seen him (in Arkerra) space out, with a haunted look and a thousand-yard stare, and the scene before him is overlaid with a vision of the aftermath of terrible violence.
There are a lot of gamers who are or were in the military. My guess is that Byron’s player is a veteran, who was exposed to combat, and traumatized by it.
Nota bene: I don’t mean that Byron’s player ever did anything wrong himself. I believe he’s a fundamentally decent person. I’ve heard it argued that combat, especially modern combat, is intrinsically traumatizing; you can’t see such violence and be unharmed. I’m thinking his berserker persona is a way of working through the dark side of human nature. Note also his interest in the “dangerous” Lord Byron.
Seem like a reasonable theory to me, given the clues we have so far.
Ok, maybe we can make guesses as to Payet’s stage persona based on the bits of letters poking out. The first one looks to be either an H or a K, and I see a g about three letters from the end. There’s also a tiny bit of a letter poking up between the first and second E’s in BLEE…EP.
…I got nothing.
….Hello Kitty, American version?
Josh looks an awful lot like Lisa is tearing him apart, fwiw
…oh hi Mark.