2007-05-12: How Cubi cure boredom. (Abel's Story #87)

[rabid_fox]

You know what? Aniz is ace. You look at how Abel portrays himself to Dan at first, there's a lot of Aniz in there. Also Devin.

Oh, Abel, when will we see the real you?

The similarities in behaviour have me thinkin that Aniz is going to have a sustained influence on Abel's life over the next while. That's a bit ace. Though it doesn't bode well for May.

Damn! Intruige. 

[Reaver225]

               I am reasonably sure that Abel is Aniz's son. I bet Aniz will be really thrilled that Abel has already been 'blooded' in battle and thinks that maybe a warrior may be made of a whimp Abel here ...

Reasonably?  Dude, he's been playing Cid since before Abel was conceived.  What more do you need?

Well, that's what he said, at least. Which is not the most compelling evidence. Of course, if he ISN'T, then we go introducing more characters into the situation, which probably isn't parsimonous.

Also, when was Abel 'blooded'? He ran away without trying even a single attack.

[MaskedRetriever]

Oh, Abel, when will we see the real you?

'bout as soon as Jyrras cracks through that grouchykitty force field long enough to seduce him.   

Of course at that point he'll get ~super~ protective...

[Manawolf]

Chaotic Evils: Mesed up Mother****ers.

[Meech]

What makes you so sure?  I mean, to an experienced Cubi, how long is 25 years really?  It seems entirely feasible that some Cubi might plays games that drag on for decades.

We've been over this before.  `Cubi live approximately 100 times longer than we do.  So divide everything by 100.  25 years becomes .25 years, or three months.

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

The answer to your question is yes.  People go out and buy an RPG for their PS1,2 or 3 and then spend weeks or months playing it every day to get to the end.  There are RPGers who have been playing their non-electronic games for years.  Aniz is an RPG addict.  He just has the ability to actually become his character. 

What do we do when we are bored.  We find something to do.  Some of us play games.  Aniz takes over peoples lives and runs with them.

[Regal]

Also I'm unsure why Abel hasn't barfed yet because of his mother's bloody nose

Yeah, I brought that up in the last thread, too. And like I said before...

PLOT HOLE, AMBER!

Sometimes you reach a point where you are just too tired to be affected by things that normally affect you. Abel has been through such hell this day I'd say he's passed that point.

[Sunblink]

Hmm. I redact what I said about me hating Aniz. The guy does have his share of mocking, evil charisma, and certainly doesn't seem afraid to rub his triumphant boasting in a distraught vicitm's face. My kind of villain.

Of course, it doesn't change the fact he's an asshat. Not any amount of hawtness will change that.

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[nikename2]

Well if anything he's displaying atleast one motive. Hes been really, really, extremely bored. This doesn't make him any less evil then he already is, now he's just showing the full extent of his evil. 

[Zedd]

The fruit that falls the farthest from the tree...rember people..

[Kragoth]

First I'd like to begin by saying a hearty "Hello!" to everyone here, since this is my first post on the forum even though I have been reading DMFA for about two years now from that little land called the Netherlands (yay!). Second I'd like to say that DMFA is my abolutele number one online comic and I thank Amber for sharing the adventures of her characters with all who read them!

Now, on to the reason for my 'coming out of the lurking depths': ever since the unveiling of Aniz' identity, one picture has been figuratively 'haunting' me. It's the one where you see Abel having fun with his mother and 'father' in Devin's flashback and when Cid and Abel have even put on hats.

http://www.missmab.com/Comics/Abel_52.php

I just can't for the life of me think about ONE evil reason for a cubi to play along with something like that, so there has to be some ulterior motive. Maybe Aniz does have feelings for Abel and even for May, but the reason that he's acting all cruel and nasty is that his performance is being watched or something. Maybe it's some sort of 'graduation' for one of the SAIA courses? I mean, there are bound to be courses on about every possible way of life for cubi's, aren't there?

But then again, I'm a 'proto-slime' on the forum where it comes to spouting theories, so I could be utterly and totally wrong to even suggest something like that.

For now, I'm gonna go back to reading and lurking and such, but who knows: maybe I'll get the hang of this!

[Amber Williams]

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

For the Hoarde!

[techmaster-glitch]

First I'd like to begin by saying a hearty "Hello!" to everyone here, since this is my first post on the forum even though I have been reading DMFA for about two years now from that little land called the Netherlands (yay!).

But then again, I'm a 'proto-slime' on the forum where it comes to spouting theories, so I could be utterly and totally wrong to even suggest something like that.

For now, I'm gonna go back to reading and lurking and such, but who knows: maybe I'll get the hang of this!

Don't worry, Kragoth. Every is in your exact same position when they start out. Yes, some people definately won't be taking you seriously, but most people here are much more understanding and accepting than that. Take my story for instance. The beggining of the road will be somewhat tough, but just grit your teeth and accept the humiliation when you post something that starts a flamewar...against you. Actually, it is VERY doubtfull that you will f**k up THAT bad, but just in case. Just post when you think you have something intelligent to say, vist and post in the other forum areas, and before you know it, you will be right at home.... so much at home, that you can NEVER leave..... MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

For the Hoarde!

Amen to that. Or, amen to that if I ever actually played WoW. I never have, cuz my mom won't get me anyhting with a montly fee at all, and I have absolutly no source of income except what coins I find on the ground at school, so I can't pay myself. 

[nikename2]

Oh man, I can never return to that game. It was cool and all, but yea the time just goes out the window. Plus the XP just ruined it for me. 

[Caswin]

Heh...

Y'know, all the talking and laughing that goes on about the joys and sometimes even morality of 'cubi shape-shifting, seducing and torturing people... just doesn't feel the same when you see it happening to a character you've actually grown to care about, does it? 

[Moonfrost]

Oh... he's good.

Now, to fix that damn sig

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

But then again, I'm a 'proto-slime' on the forum where it comes to spouting theories, so I could be utterly and totally wrong to even suggest something like that.

Why? Being wrong hasn't stopped anyone else, why should you let it stop you? :-]

For the Hoarde!

You know, I've been meaning to ask. Whose hoard is that? Or is a horde of hoards?

*hides*

[Attic Rat]

I do agree though, pretty long elaborat game to play for only a few minutes of pleasure, unless he plans to tourture them for a few years.

I don't know. Assuming this is the sort of emotion Aniz feeds on, consider how much time and effort (not to mention money) some people will put in to a gourmet meal. Perhaps it's the cubi equivalent of 200 year eggs or vintage wine. ^.^

Interesting idea! Then the "Slap" was just a bit of confusion-shock-betrayal seasoning that had to be applied just before serving, to give the dish exactly the right flavor. That's utterly sick and twisted, but for now I'm willing to assume that Aniz fits that description.

[Tapewolf]

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

Morrowind?  U5:Lazarus?

Judging by the people who've already mentioned WoW, I think you're going to regret that question 

[MaskedRetriever]

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

For the Hoarde!

Wow, that just has me imagining Cubi all over the place role playing as beings as a kind of MMORPG where everyone else is NPCs.   

I mean, for all we know there could be four Cubi out on a bench somewhere nearby telepathing to one another

HA HAHAHAHAHAH PWNED!!!
LAWL
OO SUX TO B U ABL
FRIGGN SAVED

[Goatmon]

What makes you so sure?  I mean, to an experienced Cubi, how long is 25 years really?  It seems entirely feasible that some Cubi might plays games that drag on for decades.

We've been over this before.  `Cubi live approximately 100 times longer than we do.  So divide everything by 100.  25 years becomes .25 years, or three months.

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

Depends on how easily I kept myself "Fed" while playing this game, as opposed to being out on my own.  Besides, the game thing was just a suggestion.  In the last page he's hinting that he doesn't really have a good reason for why he's been doing it, as though it's just been some stupid game to him, which brought me to my earlier conclusion.    That's all. 

[Jigsaw Forte]

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

For the Hoarde!

Wow, that just has me imagining Cubi all over the place role playing as beings as a kind of MMORPG where everyone else is NPCs.   

I mean, for all we know there could be four Cubi out on a bench somewhere nearby telepathing to one another

HA HAHAHAHAHAH PWNED!!!
LAWL
OO SUX TO B U ABL
FRIGGN SAVED

No WONDER Most Cubi have a reputation for being jerks...

[Reese Tora]

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

For the Hoarde!

There;'s people still playing Ultima Online, which I was getting excited about back in high school.  That's almost ten years ago, and there's people who still play the game who started playing abck when the game was new.

And before that, there was Meridian 59, but I don't think it's possible to play that anymore...

And before that, there were the first MUCKs and MUDs, which IIRC, are still available to play.  And there's people who have been playing them all this time.

While the initial charm of a game may wear off after a while, the game itself can just get under your skin and become something that you play because you play it.

Maybe Aniz just has an addictive personality.

[Goatmon]

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

For the Hoarde!

I'm so tempted to start  a Dranei hunter named Mab, and get a Wind Serpent pet named Pip.  But I'm too lazy,   

[Jigsaw Forte]

Okay, so since we have established Aniz's full control of the situation...

Where the hell are his backwings?! *twitch*

[nikename2]

He must really like wearing that shirt. 

[multani82]

Would you play a game that occupied all of your time (or at least, the majority) and dragged on for three months?

For the Hoarde!

FOR GNOMERGAN!

[Damaris]

I'm not sure why people think that Abel not puking is a plot hole.  ANYONE who sees a dismembered/shredded/icky body that's been sitting around more than a few minutes for the first time is going to throw up.  That doesn't mean that he is going to throw up anytime anyone cuts themselves.

We already know that Abel's story is full of angst and win, so I would bet money that we haven't seen what caused him the huge-ass trauma that leads to his blood issues.

I mean, come on guys.  You can't start pointing out plot holes until the end of a story, because there is always the potential that they'll be explained in a perfectly logical and legitimate way, and then you'll look like a tardmunch.

[rabid_fox]

You do realise that we've already seen his blood-puking in the strip? You know. When Devin and Xander still had pulses. And that Devin says he'd been scared of blood ever since he was a kid?

So. There ya go.

A bloody nose isn't going to freak him out when...you know...he's had the day he's had. And May was quick to get a hankie up to it.

[Damaris]

Yes, I do realize that.  Which is why I said that anyone would most likely throw up when seeing a violent death for the first time.  Doesn't mean he's phobic, just that he's... human.  Well, you know what I mean.

[superluser]

The answer to your question is yes.  People go out and buy an RPG for their PS1,2 or 3 and then spend weeks or months playing it every day to get to the end.

Yes, but they usually take time off to sleep, have a nice, peaceful meal rather than holding a slice of pizza in one hand and the controller in the other, go to work and/or school, &c.  I'll bet that pushes it below 50% of their time for most hardcore gamers.

Aniz isn't doing any of that.  Even when he sleeps (or pretends to), he's still playing.  The only time when he might have broken character is when he was off `adventuring.'

I've been known to pick up a game and then largely disappear for a week, only surfacing for work/food/sleep.  But by the end of that week, I've defeated the game.

I couldn't do it for a month, though.

Plus, if the game weren't exciting, I'd drop it like a hot potato.  Aniz seems to have been playing a game that he hates for twenty-five years, and he doesn't seem to have the personality of someone who likes to aggro.

Judging by the people who've already mentioned WoW, I think you're going to regret that question 

Nah.  Probably should have rephrased it, though.