#426 Brian taunts the readers

[Omega]

all i have to say is ... you are a evil brilliant man

[froofmyster]

I was dissapointed. "They went to Gorgu and saw stuff." What ever happened to making it so painfully long that one would want to kill Brian for the deliberate wasting of time? I'm sorry, but that was not fun to read.

[Static Hamster]

I liked the Voltron reference. When I read that I actually laughed outloud and that is rare for me.

I also was disappointed with the speed at which they reached Gurgu Volcano...whatever happened to Crescent Lake? The Circle of Sages? The Canoe?

Oh well its only loosely based on the original FF anyway. Still that Voltron reference was priceless.

[Martyr]

The word is Prontera.


I think.

[Fifthfiend]

...

That was both cruel and unusual.

Job well done!

[MFD]

Aha. So the Fire Orb is RM's. I sense a pattern.

[Fifthfiend]

What ever happened to making it so painfully long that one would want to kill Brian for the deliberate wasting of time?

A wizard did it.

[Krylo]

Either that or Brian is now going to give us flashback after flashback without showing us whatever the hell the light warriors are balking at, thus further torturing our poor souls.

[Sithdarth]

Could it be the lost art of suspense may actually have been rediscovered. Of course Brian has stepped in it now. If what ever happens next isn't right up there with his best work or the effect is going to be at least twice as bad.

What am I saying? Brian being the literary master he is had the next step planned before he did this. Either that or he is just good enough to pull it off.

[Mike McC]

This isn't the first time Brian has hit the fast-forward button. Has everyone already forgotten this? (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030626)

Sure, Brian COULD have made the travels to the volcano long and drawn out, but, then again, Brian always has a knack for mixing things up, to keep things fresh and interesting. You can only have so many long treks in a row before it stagnates, you know.

As for the other things, remember, Brian is using the storyline of Final Fantasy 1 as a very loose guideline. As for the Cricle of Sages... That has been replaced by the Sage Sarda at the Circle Cave. Or am I the only one who has realized this?

Please do not fret if Brian's story differs from FF1. For, if it stayed on course, would we have the Drizz'l, or the widespread destruction over Dwarf land? I think not.

Could it be the lost art of suspense may actually have been rediscovered. Of course Brian has stepped in it now. If what ever happens next isn't right up there with his best work or the effect is going to be at least twice as bad.

Than again, if he didn't live up to the expectations that he's set up, that would be called an anti-climax, which, once again, isn't the first time Brian has done such a thing (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030520). So, really, we have no idea what he's gonna do next!

But my money's on the anti-climax.

And, one final edit: Always remember, this is Brian's comic, and he may just see fit to have the joke of the comic actually be on us.

[Sithdarth]

An anti-climax would be fine, and quite funny at this point. However, there is were the problem lines. If what ever he does next isn't really funny the negative effect is going to be amplified by the time he made us wait. We don't expect big shocking drama. We expect something really funny and by delaying he is giving us time to imagine what will happen next. The danger lies there for it is difficult to top the imaginations of most people because they have a better ideal of what they personally consider funny. But again this is the Master of the art of web comics we are talking about. So what ever comes next is going to be one of the funniest things a lot of people have ever seen.

[Arckanghel]

It could be that this comic is attempting to reach an end before the apocolypse, which i snot cool with me cuase the comic better nto end before the world does cause then we will have to make Brian write another to amuse us adn this one serves the purpose so well. On the other hand I think all the other suggestions are highly possible. I would say he's going for the anti-climax though. There are just so many great anti-climatic possibilities and of course Sardda could reverse time if he thinks the quest was too easy and make them do it again. That would reference the FF1 time looop on a smaller scale, making a small finite-condition-based time loop within the larger time loop.

[Mike McC]

This is just a reminder, but there is no 'larger time loop'. Brian himself has said that the end of 8-Bit Theater will not involve any of the freaky, confusing time travel that was present in Final Fantasy.

Thank god for that, too.

[Kurosen]

I'm a big fan of time loops and travel and such, but it never really fit in the story of FF1. The time travel angle kinda came out of right field, was never satisfactorily explained, and didn't really contribute anything to the story. So I ain't includin' it.

The closest I get is when Sarda edited time to finish his dinner before he made it and when Black Belt is allowed to wander around on his own.

[SuperSaienBlackFighter]

Anyone else notice the bandages on :fighter:'s head in the third panel? Somehow much funnier then just having :bmage: stab him. However, one probem I noticed. This is the [I]FIRE[I/] orb, the controler of all fire. How does BM not immediately lust for it? I mean, I see he does , but for some other reason. Oh, and I'm guessing sarda wrote the narration, judging by his brag in the first panel.

[Loyal]

Ah, this one was quite damned funny. This, combined for Bob & George, brightens up my day ^_^.

Anyone else notice the bandages on 's head in the third panel? Somehow much funnier then just having stab him. However, one probem I noticed. This is the FIRE[I/] orb, the controler of all fire. How does BM not immediately lust for it? I mean, I see he [I]does , but for some other reason. Oh, and I'm guessing sarda wrote the narration, judging by his brag in the first panel.

Well, if the Earth orb didn't give them power over earthquakes or something... RM mighta made that up...

:bmage: What, that's it? No contrived backstory? No revealing secret about of the Light Warriors?
:rmage: The Order of Red Magic seeks the Fire Orb as we believe it is the key to harnessing celestial power on the terrestial plane.
:bmage: There we go, thank you.
:rmage: Any time.

That sorta suggests that RM was making it up to

1) Appease to BM/convince BM that the quest isn't a complete waste of time.
2) Avoid being stabbed by BM for... something...
or 3) getting an excuse to flaunt his intelligence.

Speaking of which... when was the last time RM edited his stats? Besides in the OotS-inspired guest comic, of course.

[froofmyster]

This is just a reminder, but there is no 'larger time loop'. Brian himself has said that the end of 8-Bit Theater will not involve any of the freaky, confusing time travel that was present in Final Fantasy.

Thank god for that, too.
Thank god indeed.

However, I find that destroying Chaos would... oh never mind. BM already addressed this while talking to King Steve.

[AzaggThoth]

I found it to be a funny Monty Python-ish set up for whatever is next.

[MFD]

Clearly the Fire Orb is missing, and the LWs must find who has it. It won't be simple folks. In RPGs, the ease with which you complete a task is inversely proportional to how easy it sounds.

For instance, in FFIX... saving Alexandria from Kuja and the Invincible sounds like a problem, right? It's very easy. Meanwhile, in FFVIII, the assassination attempt on the Sorceress Edea in Deling City sounds easy enough, but (thanks to that 'ho' Quistis) is insanely complicated.

[Toastburner B]

That was one the best ones in a while, in my opinion. I'm at school, so I had to try not to laugh out loud. Which was almost impossible with the Voltron reference. That was my favorite cartoon back in the day.

[Meister]

Dude, Brian, you rule. That was just what I needed after university and nearly two hours on a crowded train at high temperature. Thanks, man.

... have you by any chance been playing the bushgame lately or is Voltron a coincidence?

[Aerozord]

Great comic I loved it. Funny but not pointless. Now stop whining about his skipping ahead. If you recall he never spends any more then a few comics on actual travel. Its where those travels take them that takes forever. A few examples, it took about 3 comics for them to get to Corneria. Same for the trip to and from Elfland.

As for anti-climatic. Name one time he wasn't. In fact allow me here (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030520) , here (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=040403) , and here (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=020129) . Just to name a few. So here is my prediction.

:bmage: WHAT THE HELL!?
:fighter: Hey where is the fire orb? All I see is a pedistol and an IOU.

[darthblarg]

Reminds me of an old tv serial series. Man are those things fun. I picked up the whole original series of Captian Marvel. SHAZAM! Man I love that show.
Keep up the good work ya'll.
Peace Out!

[snuj]

good comic. and yes, Brian probably will do something anti-climatic. oh well. just so long as its funny, im fine.

as for not including the whole time loop thing . . .

I'm a big fan of time loops and travel and such, but it never really fit in the story of FF1. The time travel angle kinda came out of right field, was never satisfactorily explained, and didn't really contribute anything to the story. So I ain't includin' it.

The closest I get is when Sarda edited time to finish his dinner before he made it and when Black Belt is allowed to wander around on his own.

personaly, i would have included it. simply because of the fact that it does "come out of right field," and never did make much sense, its so completely random that its hilarious! add to that Brian's great characters and its even better! They could be making fun of Garland when he tries to explain it, and then BM could complain about how it makes no sense and its makes him feel like stabbing someone. if Brian really wanted to, he could make it work.

[Nucleus]

Either that or Brian is now going to give us flashback after flashback without showing us whatever the hell the light warriors are balking at, thus further torturing our poor souls.
That was my second theory. However, my first is that the Fire Orb is in Sarda's possession, which would explain his seemingly incredible power over the universe.

:rmage: The Order of Red Magic seeks the Fire Orb as we believe it is the key to harnessing celestial power on the terrestrial plane.

Along with this quote regarding Sarda:

Unfortunately, a wizard in a far off land had been conducting causality experiments so he could develop a spell to eat his dinner without having to first prepare it.

The resultant chronoplastic backlash rewrote most recent history.

[Arckanghel]

I wasn't trying to say Brian would include the "overall time loop" in the comic I was just saying from a loosely based perspective having a small time loop would make one inside another.

The most likely thing as far as I see it is the Fire Orb not being there or them not knowing what to do with it, but it's all a hypothesis until we see the next comic.

EDIT: Suddenly learned to spell.

[Dragonsbane]

I kinda think that RM just made up the comment about the Order of Red Magic seeking the Fire Orb just so that BM would have a backstory that makes sense.

[Beau]

Sorta just seems like the last couple were meant to be funny in a weird way, so I'd reall just wait and see, cause there's way too many conclusions you could draw from the last couple strips.

[Aerozord]

first on the note of what RM said. Knowing RM it is more likely he just casually blurted it out. What I mean is that it was Brian explaining not RM. "Brian" just slipped that in there for the funny and RM has no motive.

Now as for time travel it is so stupid I though he would put it in just so the LW could make fun of it

[Dragonsbane]

Now as for time travel it is so stupid I thought he would put it in just so the LW could make fun of it

yeah, and BM will stab/burn/Hadoken something........and we'll all love it:D

[Drooling Iguana]

I'm a big fan of time loops and travel and such, but it never really fit in the story of FF1. The time travel angle kinda came out of right field, was never satisfactorily explained, and didn't really contribute anything to the story. So I ain't includin' it.

The closest I get is when Sarda edited time to finish his dinner before he made it and when Black Belt is allowed to wander around on his own.But... Swordopolis... Hole in time... Garland fall through... Not true?

[Mike McC]

I don't think Garland fell through that hole in time when Swordopolis saved Fighter from drowning (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=021203) way back when. In fact, Garland was instead saved by a Land Shark (http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=021219), if I remember correctly.

And speaking of Dr. Swordopolis, when will he make a return?

[Sky Warrior Bob]

But... Swordopolis... Hole in time... Garland fall through... Not true?

No, no it isn't, but this really shouldn't come as a shock. You've been in denial long enough, Garland did *NOT* get sent into the past.

Yeah, it was a pretty neat theory, just like my theory that Vilbert would turn out to be a hapless innocent rather than the actual Vampire. But all that aside, neither you, nor I have any real control over the events of 8-bit, and just wishing it to be so won't change anything.

Sky Warrior Bob
- Told ya so!

[Fifthfiend]

I'm a big fan of time loops and travel and such, but it never really fit in the story of FF1. The time travel angle kinda came out of right field, was never satisfactorily explained, and didn't really contribute anything to the story. So I ain't includin' it.

On the one hand, it would be good to see you use the time loop in a way that makes sense.

On the other hand, the merest consideration of the time loop as it is causes me to bleed profusely from the eye sockets.

So barring an absolute confidence in your ability to render something of worth from that madness, it's probably best left alone.

[Aerozord]

well with my therey of space-time loop is easy because time cannot be changed. Let me use an example. Lets say you went back in time to kill Hitler. Now obviously you failed otherwise in your time he would be dead and you never would have need to go back and kill him.

[Hamelin]

But, then Back to the Future would make absolutely no sense!

[Drooling Iguana]

No, no it isn't, but this really shouldn't come as a shock. You've been in denial long enough, Garland did *NOT* get sent into the past.

Yeah, it was a pretty neat theory, just like my theory that Vilbert would turn out to be a hapless innocent rather than the actual Vampire. But all that aside, neither you, nor I have any real control over the events of 8-bit, and just wishing it to be so won't change anything.

Sky Warrior Bob
- Told ya so!Lies! All lies!

[Klyco]

well with my therey of space-time loop is easy because time cannot be changed. Let me use an example. Lets say you went back in time to kill Hitler. Now obviously you failed otherwise in your time he would be dead and you never would have need to go back and kill him.

But it would save alot of people from dying in the past.

Also, theres also the DBZ rule of time travel. That if one where to go back into the past, it would be the past of a different realm and not your time so you can never alter you worlds futur.

[Aerozord]

But it would save alot of people from dying in the past.

Also, theres also the DBZ rule of time travel. That if one where to go back into the past, it would be the past of a different realm and not your time so you can never alter you worlds futur.
ok number one I was saying that you failed. Because if you succeeded then he would be dead and you wouldn't have gone back in time to kill him. In otherwords it already happened.

That is another theory that you create alternate realities. I just believe in the unchangable loop theory is all.

[Sithdarth]

Actual time travel is on the verge of being proven impossible. Seeing as time, in the way we think of it, is simply a construct of humans, and does not truly exsit there is nothing to travel back into.

There is some evidence to support the time loop theory. Simply that the universe explodes, exspands, then contracts, and explodes over and over. If it is unchangable hard to say, but if it was then your future is set as well as your past. Not a happy thought.

A time loop in 8-bit can best be explained thusly; A Wizard did it. No more explaination is needed. Although I'm sure Brian could come up with something much funnier.

[Klyco]

Anyways, Time travel isnt possible. If it were, some one would of came back already and we would of heard on T.V : NUtcase thinks he's is from the future. more at 11.: Get the point.

[Janus]

you people talk about alot of stuff that never matters :D

[Dragonsbane]

In the end, what really matters?

On a side note, Sithdarth.....don't you mean "Sarda did it?"

[Funka Genocide]

I told you time doesn't exist... yeah thats right, you heard me!

[Dragonsbane]

Time is merely a psycological construct which we use in a futile attempt to bring order to the world around us *says in a "wise old man" voice*

[Aerozord]

WHAT!? no time is an abstract concept delevoped by organic beings to moniter their own ongoing decay

[Dragonsbane]

poe-tay-toe, poe-tah-toe:p

[Klyco]

poe-tay-toe, poe-tah-toe:p

Wha -at-is-go-ing-on?

[Dragonsbane]

I say "po-tay-toe", you say "po-tah-to"

meaning that we are saying the same thing, just said differently.......I was making a bad joke.

[Fifthfiend]

Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to
To-may-to, What's-going-on-o

Let's call the whole thing off!

[Dragonsbane]

what a truly excellent idea...