Arc #32: The Dog Days of Summer

Rojo Ninja · Post by **Rojo Ninja** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:03 pm

Ratros wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he's still with Pete.

I bet that's not as far out as your think.

Dr. Prower · Post by **Dr. Prower** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:05 pm

Rojo Ninja wrote:
Ratros wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he's still with Pete.
I bet that's not as far out as your think.

Sad but true...

*begins singing Metallica song of same name*

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:25 pm

Ratros wrote:I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say he's still with Pete.

That is possible if the no manifesting rule only applies to Pete's Griffin form if it doesn't then I don't see how that's possible.

Zander · Post by **Zander** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:30 pm

why does the comic remind me of this song?

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 2:32 pm

Zander wrote:why does the comic remind me of this song?

Because the title of the comic are lyrics from the song

Dr. Prower · Post by **Dr. Prower** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:01 pm

Zander wrote:why does the comic remind me of this song?

Hey Z, your fursona's cool

Zander · Post by **Zander** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:08 pm

Dr. Prower wrote:
Zander wrote:why does the comic remind me of this song?
Hey Z, your fursona's cool

I made him one of my RP characters too.

Dr. Prower · Post by **Dr. Prower** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:12 pm

Zander wrote:
Dr. Prower wrote:
Zander wrote:why does the comic remind me of this song?
Hey Z, your fursona's cool
I made him one of my RP characters too. :P

EVERYBODY GET FURSONAS! WOOOOOO!

Tiggy · Post by **Tiggy** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:15 pm

I HAVE ONE WOO! :3 HE'S MY RP CHAR ASWELL! (Unfortunately it's not my avatar :3)

Kyderra · Post by **Kyderra** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 4:29 pm

Tobee wrote:I HAVE ONE WOO! :3 HE'S MY RP CHAR ASWELL! (Unfortunately it's not my avatar :3)

off topic...
I Do not
well the Digimon one.. but it needs more furr!

Foldo · Post by **Foldo** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:14 pm

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:20 pm

Foldo wrote:

Oh My God

that is great Foldo

Foldo · Post by **Foldo** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:24 pm

Maybe this book could be useful for King?

Mika · Post by **Mika** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:33 pm

Foldo wrote:

This is totally what Sabrina is reading here

ReCreate · Post by **ReCreate** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:38 pm

Dr. Prower wrote:
Zander wrote:why does the comic remind me of this song?
Hey Z, your fursona's cool

WHAT SHOCKING INFORMATION RELEVANT TO THE CONVERSATION!

Liam · Post by **Liam** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:56 pm

Foldo wrote:What if we deduct for providing this book to King?

Hm?

ReCreate wrote:
Dr. Prower wrote:
Zander wrote:why does the comic remind me of this song?
Hey Z, your fursona's cool
WHAT SHOCKING INFORMATION RELEVANT TO THE CONVERSATION!

Your fursona sunk my home continent, Re.

Dusty · Post by **Dusty** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 8:22 pm

Hmm, I really don't think his reward is the golden statue. I'm willing to bet he has a new owner. Fox's owner possibly. I don't think its the Sanviches since he has no real direct link to them.

Corpy · Post by **Corpy** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:33 pm

I wouldn't think it would be a simple gold statue, some money hardly makes up for having ones world turned upside down and backwards and then tossed over the fence. That would be incredibly cool if he was living with Fox though.

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:41 pm

Dusty wrote:Hmm, I really don't think his reward is the golden statue. I'm willing to bet he has a new owner. Fox's owner possibly. I don't think its the Sanviches since he has no real direct link to them.

If it is a new owner (which I think it is because Pete isn't allowed back in the Arena. Which admittedly could be something other then Babylon Gardens but I doubt it would be) I think its either Bill (Fox's owner) or Sasha's Owner (this however IMO would only make sense if shes Kitsunes Avatar) It would be great if it was the Sandwiches but as you said he has no connection to them. Edit: also as I stated before in the thread the manifestation limit could only be to his Griffin form which would mean that hes still with Pete but I don't really know how would that be a Prize for King so I don't think that's the case

PhoenixAsper · Post by **PhoenixAsper** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:47 pm

Corpy wrote:I wouldn't think it would be a simple gold statue, some money hardly makes up for having ones world turned upside down and backwards and then tossed over the fence. That would be incredibly cool if he was living with Fox though.

If it is Fox, I say we see King happier than we've seen so far, and then he realizes who his owner is......... and quickly passes out!

I don't think he needs to worry too much about being caught, though: he's got a couple of cosmic entities watching out for him, and Mr. GM DID say that there is a reward at the game's end. Meaning there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

Corpy · Post by **Corpy** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:02 pm

PhoenixAsper wrote:Mr. GM DID say that there is a reward at the game's end. Meaning there IS light at the end of the tunnel.

Which makes you wonder how long the game goes on for. Seeing as it is played by cosmic entities, probably a veeerrry long time.

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:22 pm

Corpy wrote:
PhoenixAsper wrote:Mr. GM DID say that there is a reward at the game's end. Meaning there IS light at the end of the tunnel.
Which makes you wonder how long the game goes on for. Seeing as it is played by cosmic entities, probably a veeerrry long time.

If its is a very long time (like 100s or 1000s of years long) one power of being a Avatar could be near immortality. And that brings up one thing how long have they been playing this game for? (I doubt the game would actually be that long because it would have to be with in Kings life time to get the prize)

Though I again bring up my point that since Pete's Temple was moved from somewhere that the game was not meant to take place in Babylon Gardens and since he thought that Dragon moved the Temple Dragon had to be out of her Temple and near by. This brings up the point of where exactly is Tarot from exactly and where was the game suppose to originally be played? And more importantly who moved Pete's Temple?

My guesses for right now are this: 1. Possibly 10-20 years Min to allow for the forest myths to grow and take hold and that might be to little even 2. Egypt 3. Egypt or possibly the sounding areas where Babylon was in the past. and 4. Most likely Mr. Milton

scruffy · Post by **scruffy** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:45 pm

Just poking my nose in to say hi! I just started reading Housepets recently, and being confused about what's been going on, I went back and read the entirety of the strip this week. It's wonderful, I sniffled a lot, smiled a lot, and now I'm caught up.

I know that most of the focus in the recent strips has been about King, but I've been kinda wondering - if the dragon has Tarot as her avatar, and Pete was originally trying to trying to get Grape as his avatar... could the agreed goal of the game have something to do with Peanut?

PhoenixAsper · Post by **PhoenixAsper** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:54 pm

scruffy wrote:Just poking my nose in to say hi! I just started reading Housepets recently, and being confused about what's been going on, I went back and read the entirety of the strip this week. It's wonderful, I sniffled a lot, smiled a lot, and now I'm caught up.

I know that most of the focus in the recent strips has been about King, but I've been kinda wondering - if the dragon has Tarot as her avatar, and Pete was originally trying to trying to get Grape as his avatar... could the agreed goal of the game have something to do with Peanut?

Given the way Pete spoke of him, I would not be surprised.

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:58 pm

scruffy wrote:Just poking my nose in to say hi! I just started reading Housepets recently, and being confused about what's been going on, I went back and read the entirety of the strip this week. It's wonderful, I sniffled a lot, smiled a lot, and now I'm caught up.

I know that most of the focus in the recent strips has been about King, but I've been kinda wondering - if the dragon has Tarot as her avatar, and Pete was originally trying to trying to get Grape as his avatar... could the agreed goal of the game have something to do with Peanut?

First things first Welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy it here. Now on to your question. No I really doubt it because as I said in the post above the U&U Game was not meant to take place in Babylon Gardens originally so Peanut would have nothing to do with the Game goal at all.

Sinder · Post by **Sinder** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 11:25 pm

IceKitsune wrote:First things first Welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy it here. Now on to your question. No I really doubt it because as I said in the post above the U&U Game was not meant to take place in Babylon Gardens originally so Peanut would have nothing to do with the Game goal at all.

How do you know? We have only a vague idea what the rules of the game are, and no idea what the win condition is; it could very well be anything. What's particularly telling is that Pete refers to Grape and Peanut as "The Cat" and "The Dog" respectively, when there are plenty of both cats and dogs in the neighborhood, which suggests that they hold a particular significance in the game itself.

IceKitsune · Post by **IceKitsune** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 11:38 pm

Sinder wrote:
IceKitsune wrote:First things first Welcome to the forum! I hope you enjoy it here. Now on to your question. No I really doubt it because as I said in the post above the U&U Game was not meant to take place in Babylon Gardens originally so Peanut would have nothing to do with the Game goal at all.
How do you know? We have only a vague idea what the rules of the game are, and no idea what the win condition is; it could very well be anything. What's particularly telling is that Pete refers to Grape and Peanut as "The Cat" and "The Dog" respectively, when there are plenty of both cats and dogs in the neighborhood, which suggests that they hold a particular significance in the game itself.

But how could they be? We know for a fact that Pete's temple was moved to Babylon Gardens so we know it was originally some where else and since its only the Garden part on the map that looks hastily scrawled on and underlined instead of neat like the Babylon part then we can assume that the game originally was going to take place where Babylon once was meaning there is no way Peanut and Grape have any significance on the game other then being potential Avatars which has already passed because Dragon has one already, Kitsune most likely does as well or he/she doesn't have one at all, and neither trust Pete so they won't be his.

As for him referring to them as The Cat and The Dog I think your putting to much stock in his word choice he could have been referring to them dismissively as unimportant hence why he didn't use their real names even though he knew them. Now its possible when Pete was moved to BG they changed the Goal of the game but I find that very unlikely.

Post by **Sleet** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 11:43 pm

Has there been any official indication in the comic as to where the whole thing takes place, geologically speaking? Perhaps it actually takes place where Babylon once was. I mean, the comic looks like Iraq is the last place it could realistically be, but then again, if animals can talk, Iraq can be chill. Literally and figuratively.

It's kind of a ridiculous idea, and I'm not saying I necessarily believe it, but I'm just curious as to whether or not there is any evidence against it.

Sinder · Post by **Sinder** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:33 am

We don't know that, either. We know that the temple was moved to the forest, but we don't know when, by who, or where it was even built. If the game really was designed around ancient Babylon as the Akkadian cover stones and the Trinity's battle maps imply, then its original intent has become irrelevant; the civilization it was based upon has long since collapsed and all of the original players are dead. Regardless, the game is set in Babylon Gardens now, which places the focus upon the people and the pets who are living there now.

Pete's choice of Grape as his avatar probably wasn't an arbitrary one (everything we know about him suggests that he is a schemer, especially given his penchant for bending the rules), and we still don't know what prevented him from claiming her (apart from the fact that it was some kind of intervention by the Dragon). It's likely that he had something in mind when he chose her, and that whatever that goal was, he intended to keep working toward it with King in his thrall. He's hit another setback thus far by being temporarily barred from the playing field, but all that means is that it's back to the avatar pool, and picking another pet's name out of the hat.

Ratros · Post by **Ratros** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:21 am

Sinder wrote:We don't know that, either. We know that the temple was moved to the forest, but we don't know when, by who, or where it was even built. If the game really was designed around ancient Babylon as the Akkadian cover stones and the Trinity's battle maps imply, then its original intent has become irrelevant; the civilization it was based upon has long since collapsed and all of the original players are dead. Regardless, the game is set in Babylon Gardens now, which places the focus upon the people and the pets who are living there now.

Pete's choice of Grape as his avatar probably wasn't an arbitrary one (everything we know about him suggests that he is a schemer, especially given his penchant for bending the rules), and we still don't know what prevented him from claiming her (apart from the fact that it was some kind of intervention by the Dragon). It's likely that he had something in mind when he chose her, and that whatever that goal was, he intended to keep working toward it with King in his thrall. He's hit another setback thus far by being temporarily barred from the playing field, but all that means is that it's back to the avatar pool, and picking another pet's name out of the hat.

Tarot implied that Pete would bring about the beginning of the end, and since then Grape has viewed Pete as a hostile and even spent a lot of time harassing every Pete she could find.

The only thing that I can find that the Grape and King have in common is traumatic pasts. We don't know enough about Grape's to talk specifics, but we do know that she was adopted by the Sandwiches, and may or may not have been a stray or part of an abusive family.

I think Pete hasn't given up on King, not yet anyways.

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:20 am

From a combination of ideas here and the comments, I just thought of something.

Now, a lot of people are mentioning the idea of the temple being moved, due to the fact that "Gardens" is scrawled on the bottom of the map next to "Babylon," much in the same way King's name is scrawled onto Pete's avatar sheet...implying that Babylon Gardens was not the original location of the arena or the game, and Babylon was. This much can be reasonably deduced, without stretching too far. Then there's also the fact that Pete whined about the temple being outright moved. The thing is, we don't know who moved the temple, or even when. In fact, how do you move a temple?! To further that question, WHY would you move a temple? Those things are big!

Now, there is the entire, "Opener of ways" legend, where someone would "Usher in a new golden age," at least for the animals, it seems. And then, it would seem that a certain Henry Milton had manufacturing plants in Europe, which isn't too far from the original Babylon... Many people in the comments guessed that Henry Milton might have moved the temple as a wild guess, I'm guessing he did so based on his dream to show that pets could be more than just pets. He may have heard of the legend, and brought the temple over using his own money and influence as part of achieving that dream; rich people do tend to be eccentrics. With no lack of smart pets in the area, one was eventually bound to come across the temple and open it...right?

Now that I've given my idea about that, I'm going to move onto the parts that are more guessing, or crazy and silly ideas...

Remember a while back, when a certain ungrateful relative managed to gain a copy of the Milton treasure map? Where could that treasure be? It's possible that the treasure could be back where the temple originally was, stashed and hidden away... And if Milton DID find the temple first...what's to say he didn't loot it, and didn't find any artifacts? Or maybe he left some of the artifacts there, and hid his own treasure there among it? Now, artifacts tend to have a certain amount of power to them. Now, some gods (that are benevolent) might create artifacts to help people or prove a point. Less benevolent gods might make cursed items, to prove their power instead. Seeing as this temple was for a jerk Griffin with a history of turning jerk humans into cynical (but very cute) animals...

Pete needs an avatar, we know that much, how he's going to get it, we have no idea. Still, it's fun to speculate that Pete could pull the "cursed artifact" on Thomas if Thomas finds such a thing as a part of Henry Milton's treasure horde. Thomas would be forced to work for Pete to be changed back...and, of course, for the treasure as well.

valerio · Post by **valerio** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:31 am

Sleet wrote:Has there been any official indication in the comic as to where the whole thing takes place, geologically speaking? Perhaps it actually takes place where Babylon once was. I mean, the comic looks like Iraq is the last place it could realistically be, but then again, if animals can talk, Iraq can be chill. Literally and figuratively.

It's kind of a ridiculous idea, and I'm not saying I necessarily believe it, but I'm just curious as to whether or not there is any evidence against it.

1st evidence: In Iraq, owning dogs is so regulamentated, you could say its practically forbidden. They can stay indoor, but cannot be walked outdoors.
2nd evidente: clothes. Although western influence can be seen in clothing, women are supposed to wear differently.
3rd evidence: every cultural reference in Babylon Gardens has nothing to do with arab culture.
4th evidence: the very concept of 'Pet Friendly' in an arab country where the Ajatollah hold their power is inconceivable. Suffice to think that the only guy who can 'escape' the law and own dogs and walk them outdoors is the current leader, ahmadinejad, and only 'cause those are guard dogs
5th evidente: Oh, yes, the names. Almost forgot that! Never heard of an arab country where everyone in BG is named the american way!

Unless Rick is going to tell us that the US conquered the middle-East area during WWII and colonized it after getting ridden of the natives...

Ow, my head!

Macsen · Post by **Macsen** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:17 am

Dude. We're talking about Iraq, not Iran. Although there's been a lot of news about culling stray dogs in Iraq lately, pet ownership is hardly regulated that badly in Iraq. Iraq has always been a fairly progressive Arab nation, even when Saddam Hussein was in power. In fact, a lot of their modernization occured under Hussein. (This is not meant as an endorsement of him, I'm just saying.)

That being said, most of your other evidence is correct. And the players said it themselves: somebody moved that idol from Iraq. It's most likely somewhere in the U.S. It's certainly possible it was moved by Milton. I mean, somebody once bought the old London Bridge (the one before the current one), moved it to Arizona pieces and reassembled it as a tourist attraction.

(Plus, it doesn't snow in Baghdad, which is where Babylon was.)

valerio · Post by **valerio** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:27 am

woops. My bad. Sorry.

yoyodude · Post by **yoyodude** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 8:39 am

Buckdida wrote: Remember a while back, when a certain ungrateful relative managed to gain a copy of the Milton treasure map? Where could that treasure be? It's possible that the treasure could be back where the temple originally was, stashed and hidden away... And if Milton DID find the temple first...what's to say he didn't loot it, and didn't find any artifacts? Or maybe he left some of the artifacts there, and hid his own treasure there among it? Now, artifacts tend to have a certain amount of power to them. Now, some gods (that are benevolent) might create artifacts to help people or prove a point. Less benevolent gods might make cursed items, to prove their power instead. Seeing as this temple was for a jerk Griffin with a history of turning jerk humans into cynical (but very cute) animals...

Pete needs an avatar, we know that much, how he's going to get it, we have no idea. Still, it's fun to speculate that Pete could pull the "cursed artifact" on Thomas if Thomas finds such a thing as a part of Henry Milton's treasure horde. Thomas would be forced to work for Pete to be changed back...and, of course, for the treasure as well.

Yeah the whole treasure thing never really got resolved did it?

HMMMMMMMMM...

Macsen · Post by **Macsen** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 9:06 am

The problem is, that would also be an abuse of the U&U rules. I doubt GK will be so kind to Pete next time around.

Dr. Prower · Post by **Dr. Prower** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 9:30 am

Kitch wrote:Dude. We're talking about Iraq, not Iran.

And I ran.
I ran so far away.
I just ran.
I ran all night and day.
I couldn't get away.

Corpy · Post by **Corpy** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:09 pm

Dr. Prower wrote: And I ran.
I ran so far away.
I just ran.
I ran all night and day.
I couldn't get away.

You just had to use that song didn't you?

Rojo Ninja · Post by **Rojo Ninja** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 4:37 pm

Better than the Portal Still Alive song :3

Buckdida · Post by **Buckdida** » Thu Jul 15, 2010 5:14 pm

Kitch wrote:The problem is, that would also be an abuse of the U&U rules. I doubt GK will be so kind to Pete next time around.

How would you know that to be an abuse of rules if we don't KNOW the rules? We don't know when the artifact was created (if such an artifact exists) and there's no weird time travel junk, right? If it's been created, and given power, long, long before, it may very well still lie within the rules...legally, this time.