Page 970…
I’m sure you guys can name the 3 movies Alexander is quoting.
I have no doubt.
🙂
So…this is a twist…right?
But you guys were already predicting Orion would boot him off the cliff for being so dumb.
My buddy Dino Andrade is having an event in L.A. on Saturday for Soulgeek.
They’re going to have raffles, prizes, celebrities and it’ll even be on tv.
So if you’re in the area…and 18 and over…please check out this link.
Tell them Scott sent you.
And have fun!
Other than that…
Hope you’re enjoying the pages. And things are just getting interesting…aren’t they?
See you tomorrow for more.
Scott
Only 3 more days till…
Hm – thought these Centaurs were a friendly lot – but maybe not when ridiculed!
Yo! Da film is 1) Star wars (Yoda says it to Luke) 2) The Matrix and the last one i don’t recognize…
Keep up the good work!
aww shiznat, its on now alex
Wizard of Oz ftw!
Empire Strikes Back, Matrix, Wiz of Oz. Is he moving closer to the edge, or is it just me?
(Blast these small keyboards! “Sorry sir, we only make then for humans”)
Well, that WAS expected to happen after the previous strip
Third one is Wizard of Oz. 🙂
Scott, it’s spelled “HUURRRRRRKKKK!!!!!!” just so you know.
Wow… Alex’s mouth finally got him into trouble, not like his lack of maturity hasn’t gotten him into trouble before. Nice to see that all the characters on the “good” side are catering to Alex. Pretty soon Alex will be deemed “not worthy”
I’m guessing his breath got cut off sooner than would allow for all the extra R’s. 😉
Throw him Orion! Throw that little smart aleck! Is it EVEN POSSIBLE for Alex to take ANYTHING seriously?
Oh man, I LOVE Orion’s face in the first panel. XD
Apparently, Orion took Alex’s word seriously. You know, when Alex swore to try his hardest.
Also, maybe Alex isn’t quite as funny as he thinks he is. Either that or he’s just missing his centaur audience.
oh man alex is in for it now, be gentle orion. NOT!!! love orions expression
I don’t know why, but this post made me laugh out loud in real life.
Those teachers that get right to the point are the best teachers, in my honest opinion.
Two things I’ve learned from this comic; 1 is not to tick off a centaur by reciting lines from The Empire Strikes Back, The Matrix, or The Wizard of Oz. 2 is Alex is not as funny as he thinks he is. Unfortunately, I definitely would have done the same thing, though I was definitely thinking “So basically, there is no spoon, right?”
Now I’m scared of Orion.
Well, after all, Alex had it coming to himself, eh? What’s the point in being mouthy to a mentor who’s devoting his time to teach him. So, little Alex, time for you to learn how to fly the hard way, coz gentle teaching ain’ workin’ for you.
Hmm… somehow I did not expect that. I was rather caught off guard, actually. I thought that centaurs were a gentle lot….
In any case, that last panel had one heck of an impact! Very impressive.
“Do… or do not. There is no try.” is the actual quote. .. <_<
This could prove… problematic.
Everyone knows that Centaurs have the power of Foresight- It’s been in almost every fiction relating to them. If Alex pissed them off… Then they don’t have the benefit of knowing possible futures in the final fight.
“For gods sakes, get that boy some points in Charisma! He can’t get by on Constitution alone, you know!”
In other news… Does anyone else think Alex isn’t taking this seriously enough? If I was told that I could be similar to King Arthur, Solomon and the rest and potentially had the ability to fly, and a badass sword… I would be all “Sir, yes sir, Mr. Orion Clipclop, Sir!”
Probable not. Bear in mind though- A good part of him probably still treats this as an ordinary dream… So he’s going to be aloof and bouncy like this for a loooonnnggg time… Maybe this could be averted by magically pulling Nastaja and the rest into the “real world”, or maybe make them scry the real world somehow? Then he would see the connection is real… Or is it? All the “real” people could just be going insane. I blame the water.
I was thinking the same thing, but it looks like he’s just paraphrasing anyways.
I think the last panel demands a quote by Orion.
http://4thwall.240gl.org/viewtopic.php?t=1132
Perhaps it’s part of Orion’s plan to teach him to fly?
I’m in love with the last panel. 😀
and wow, I’m living under a rock… I only recognized the wizard of oz (and only because I’ve run into that quote a lot of times, not because I watched the movie… XD)
I rarely post comments (insert guilty face), but I do eagerly follow along. I just had to post today, though, after what Alex just did. I completely love the way that you’ve got Alex still clinging to his dorky inability to stay serious about anything, even in such a grave situation. Of course, I fully hope that he manages to get over it and be serious at /some/ point. (You can do it, Alex!! Just FLY, darn you!) But I totally love the character you’ve got here in him. (not that I don’t love the other characters, too…) You rock. I just wanted to say that. Can’t wait for the next page! ^_^
Orion’s last comment is almost a paraphrase of Travolta in Swordfish.
Oh, I would SO cut that centaur’s head off right about now. No, wait, I’d do it after he taught me to fly.
“At what point did you mistake my will to learn for tolerance of being manhandled, horse?” *whack* *thud*
A page that finally makes me actually grin with all of the puns that weren’t in it. That is a rare thing, also, I would have to agree with Archivist about the final quote. Seriously, that would have so been worth it and no one could successfully sue you (its a webcomic, what are they going to do, charge you for each page when you don’t charge us?). Any way, keep up the great work!
YES! Now that’s a centaur! And absolutely deserved, might I add – the fate of Dreamland is at stake and by extension the happiness of children and dreamers across Earth and so far Alex has shown precious little dedication or effort. He’s still treating it like a dream.
you mean will to be a troll?
´bout time somebody starts to set his airhead straight.
I recommend a toss into the ravine next, because he´s still to dense and arrogant to get it.
One day Alex might grow half a brain, what did he say last time “i will try harder”, what is he doing… the same as usual. Can’t believe a word out of his pea sized brain…. he really is the only character i’m beginning to dlslike now. It’s like he hasn’t grown up even through all the books, he’s stayed a kid.. i’m amazed he can’t fly, he hasn’t got the brainpower to do much else.
Note to self: Indian centaurs have no sense of humor (or don’t like movies).
They probably still eat people as well, they just choose not to.
Oh Alex… You really should try to be a bit more serious.
Oh well, Orion should be able to shake him up sufficiently this time.
Though it has the potential for abuse, it would be good if RL teachers were allowed to do things similar to this sometimes.
ugh, Scott, you gotta come like more father south, fanbase is huge here too xD
Yeah, right, you’re gonna slice his head off while he’s got a death grip on your throat and he’s holding you a couple feet off the ground right next to a freakin cliff? Good luck with that idea redneck.
I agree. His total inability to be serious, except in the case of Felicity dying, really gets annoying. I hope Orion teaches him a good lesson for this one. I think he still doesn’t quite fully understand what his destiny entails as the sword bearer. I’m sure that Orion will eventually knock some sense into his thick skull though.
WELL DONE!!! lol
Even if Alex can’t take it seriously (at least at first), clearly he failed a spot check to see that his sarcasm was CLEARLY failing to amuse Orion. If indeed, Orion does have foresight, then he already saw this coming and knew all along this would be what he would have to do to get Alex to wake up to the gravity of his situation.
Okay, was rereading this and didn’t realize I put that lousy pun in there unintentionally. Sorry, guys!! lol
Oh…really?
Drat. I was trying to do that out of my head.
I just lost major geek points.
His face in panel four really needs work to make sure it doesn’t look like he’s wearing a skin-mask. *shudder*
Ha ha!
Love it!
Thanks Annie!
Well…waiting until AFTER he teaches you is a smart move.
I have to agree with that logic.
THanks Megan. I’ll get right on it.
Morning all.
Don’t hate Alex. It’s just his nature.
And don’t have Orion. I’d a done the same thing.
🙂
But there’s more to this than just anger.
Give it a week.
And thanks.
no offense, though, I hope 🙂 I love this comic and am amazed every day by the explicit detail and attention that goes into your work, Scott.
It would have been worth it to us — but not in character for Orion. I doubt he has an intensive working knowledge of Real World pop culture movies. (But hilarious to see here!)
I seriously laughed out loud when I read that (getting some odd looks here in the student union). That’s priceless. I wish it could be used.
I have to agree with that. The dates you go to conventions in the north are impossible for me to get to with school down here. Life in Louisiana stinks that way.
That ought to hurt his pride, being in a magical armor, wielding an enchanted sword of kings, yet nothing stops a centaur with a hand print on his backside, to grab him at his throat and hold im over the ground…
Oh well at least we know Orion doesn’t mean any harm (head guard didn’t activate).
I really liked as you rotated the whole last screen 🙂
Don’t worry, play a few games of D&D and we forget about it 🙂
BTW: I taught he only missed it since Dan’s the ‘geeker’ of the two of them, and he didn’t pay that much attention.
Lovin’ It !
(where is the vote link?)
I see your point, but as Orion said, you have to believe that you CAN fly.
For example: If you’d live a life down as someone who didn’t had faith in god, then someone would tell you that if you develop faith in the [Insert Random Religion Here] religion, you’d get whole Hawaii as a gift your next birthdays, then you wouldn’t just be able to say “I guess i believe in him/her/it then.” since you can’t control what your mind thinks real, only by proving that it is/isn’t real.
(Neo wouldn’t have become the one if he wouldn’t have got out and see the matrix. And Luke had pretty hard job realizing his true limits.)
High time someone taught Alex some manners, me thinks!
He’s REALLY in a dreamworld which he visits in his dreams. Nothing’s the way it is IRL, and he would have died 100 times if not for the help of everyone around. And he’s got the nerve to try sarcasm? He deserves a gentle knock on the side of the head with a few kilograms of granite… 😛
None taken. I appreciate the comments.
And thank you for the compliment too.
🙂
As for Alex taking it seriously enough… yeah, I’m a little disappointed considering Orion already lectured Alex once AND his girlfriend had a big heart to heart with him about responsibility.
I guess after his idea with Felicity and the letter, he had to screw up somehow. 😉
Skin mask? Huh? Looks OK to me… maybe already fixed?
Ah… y’know, I had never before realized there might be a difference.
It certainly puts that episode in Japan into perspective. The old man was being hospitable, not friendly.
Thanks for the ground-breaking realization! Who says you learn nothing of life from reading comics?!
lol, nice one. I loled, too. And student union? You’re not at Weber State University by any chance, are you Stella? ‘Cuz they call a building that here as well.
lol, don’t worry about it, Scott. Everyone just chaulked it up to Alex’s lack of geekiness. It got me, but I thought it was deliberate…so nice job and from now on you can say it was deliberate and most people will believe you! (except those of us that read these comments, anyway 😉 )
O_O Meep!
It’s kind of surprising how Alex is hard to accept flying. He’s seeing all these mythological creatures before his own eyes, he knows he’s dreaming, tiny little Kiwi carried him in flight, but hopefully he learned his lesson: don’t mess with centuars. I think he’ll start to appreciate Nastajia more after this. She only shoved him down a small rock wall, Orion will throw him into a canyon.
LOVE the Orion twist. It makes the world more realistic. Some ancient, wise centaur isn’t going to put up with the normal antics of a college-aged human guy. Also, it’s hilarious to see Alex get called on his behavior, as even the native-born children in Dreamland seem more mature at times than him.
I’m betting that Orion is even more stressed about helping Alex because something else is going on in Dreamland…
I don’t know why but this one really ticked me off. If I were Alex I might ask, “at what point did you think it was ok to threaten my life?” but I would first try to get out of his grip. I’d try to kick one of his skinny horse legs.
Argh! I don’t know why this ticks me off so much! >:) “I assumed you were my friend because you acted like it, you jerk!”
Did the helmet activate when Nastajia pushed him down the wall earlier? I know she was trying to lecture him, but I bet she also meant him at least a little harm… 😉
lol, of course I don’t think any of us hate either of them. Completely in character for both, actually, and Alex had this coming for awhile.
I can’t complain as much… he comes out to the west coast quite frequently… but it’s to visit family and go to business meetings… he hasn’t done any cons out here… :-/
muhahahaha! Love it! Good lesson for Alex.
Eeep!
nevermind…I looked further down and saw that you lived in Louisiana.
Well, if you’re going for the Star Wars quote, then Freak boy is correct, however, if you are going for the Karate Kid quote, then Scott is correct (of course that was probably inspired by the Star Wars Quote 😉 )
What would I have Orion do? 😉
Only if he LEARNS something from it. It doesn’t seem that he’s learned anything yet, even with all the experience he’s had.
You guys get me invites as guests to a local con near you. I’ll do my best to fit it in my schedule.
DEAL?
Looks to me like Alex struck a nerve. Perhaps Orion actually has some knowledge to give, but Alex is dead on in his characterization of Orion’s “explanation”. Orion’s reaction looks like he knows it too.
No One is more indignant than the guilty.
And thus, the term “Smart alex” became common Dreamland slang.
Besides, there are plenty of other famous misquotes running around: “Play it again, Sam,” “Elementary, my dear Watson,” “Just the facts, ma’am,” “Beam me up, Scotty,” “Money is the root of all evil,” “Luke, I am your father.” To cite just a few.
Alex is likely to learn something–he has already gotten serious a few times, and even been caring, as just now with Felicity. Being dangled over a few thousand feet of open air does help concentrate the mind and make the necessary lessons stick.
It’s interesting to see how Alex deals with uncertainty and stress. His reaction is to joke and be sarcastic rather than to “man up” and take off the girly panties, as guys would put it.
In a nutshell, Orion is expressing his disappointment with Alex not taking a mature, masculine approach towards this challenge.
Of course, Orion is expressing himself in a very Zenlike manner. . . .
Man, I knew something was fishy with that centaur dude. I didn’t trust him from the moment I saw him. Was wondering why they would willingly hand someone the sword. Whoop his ass alex! o_o
Hmmm not a smart move Orion. Understandable but not smart. Young men like Alex are often rash and quick to anger and he has a sword that can slice through rock with ridiculous ease. If Alex weren’t such a how do I put this, person who was a little more assertive, I think you would very likely lose that arm. then everything would escalate from there. Of course it’s because Alex isn’t that this is happening in the first place isn’t it?
Bwa ha ha…. 😀
Well, things have quickly turned quite awkward.
LOL! Now it’s reminding me of the first day at Boot Camp! It’s about time for Alex! Heheheheheh!
No, don’t apologize. Your pu was much more entertaining than you comment.
🙂
I haven’t seen any indication that Centaurs have foresight in the TDC universe. I’ll have to assume they don’t unless Scott says otherwise.
Are you imlpying a new bracelet design?
WWOD
See? There ya go, just say you were quoting Karate Kid! That solves everything!
I’d guess that being treated like Alex is being treated is a very strong trigger for you. Everyone has things that just completely set them off. Different for every person.
It just means you very strongly relate to Alex in this situation.
If you have an older brother, that probably explains it.
Eh. I don’t think Orion is in danger. First of all, Alex does not have the instincts to attack first and ask questions later. Second, Alex knows he was being a sarcastic jerk.
One other note. Orion’s face is perfect in the first panel. Looking carefully, you can see the controlled anger, but you can also see how Alex missed it.
The first one is “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back” if you wanna name the movie and not only the series.
Oh and the twist: nice, though I got to say that he reminds me of the attitude that the centaurs in Harry Potter have against humans.
You know, I can’t help but think that Orion is doing this to prove a point actually. He was just saying about how children can fly, pretty much because they expect to be able to.
Maybe he’s trying to make a point about alex expecting him to be a friend because of his hospitality, and compare it with what he was saying, and go from there? Could be a stretch, I dunno.
1) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
2) The Matrix
3) Wizard Of Oz
Love it!
Wait. You mean I quoted Mr. Miyagi?
Now THAT is a great line! I’ve decided I love Orion! 😀
WHERE IS THAT VOTING BUTTON!!!!!!!!
Really Scott, we all love your comic and want to vote for it! Also, superb comic today.
Thanks rgirls…
But honestly. less than 5% of the people are voting.
I just don’t see the interest there.
I know you and about 500 others are doing what you can.
But out of 22,000 readers each day….500 votes is showing me that it’s not really something the majority want to deal with.
And I don’t want to keep pushing it on them.
But thank you for trying.
Don’t worry, Alex! Flying is easy…you just have to throw yourself at the ground and miss! 😀
I think the helmet is activated by active choice from Alex
Perhaps you could make that a link on the top bar, or something similar? That way it’s not in the middle of the comic posts, but those who want to can still find it.
LOL XD
Hmm, unlike the rest here, I’d say go in and change it pre-publishing, or make them all misquotes (which would be funny. “There aren’t spoons” heheh)
As it is, it kinda through me off. :\
That said, I LOVE the change of attitude.
TRAITOR!!!! ORION IS NOW A TRAITOR IN MY MENTAL BOOK!!!!! PUT ALEX DOWN!!!!!! ALEX IS TOO CUTE TO BE STRANGLED!!!!! >:-(
I completely and totally agree. AND ALEX IS WAY TOO CUTE TO BE STRANGLED!!!!
Orion no like Alex…
though I do love Alex’s face in the fourth panel there…
and Orion looks really strong, holding Alex up in the air with one arm like that…
Alex is hot…
sorry Nastajia you can have him 😉
I don’t think I’m the only one who is becoming very annoying with Alex’s lack of seriousness in all this, and the way he’s drawing it out. Though it could be a nervous habit of his, making a fool of himself to the point that he pisses everyone off when instead he should be acting otherwise.
It’s just my thoughts, and I wish that he improves on this in the future.
Wow, only 500/22,000 are voting? MY WORD…. GET THE WORD OUT FOLKS! THIS COMIC IS GREAT, and it’s Scott’s livelihood at this point. As a musician, though it is a different type of art, I can completely identify with you in trying to use your art to feed your (and your family’s) mouth. You want his kids to starve? VOTE!!! 😉
That’s probably what they’re about to hammer out in the next few comics actually.
I never saw it personally, but looking up some quotes, he might be refering to the whole “sqished grape” bit he talks about. Which if he is, it still wouldn’t be a perfect quote, but I’d have to see it for myself to know for sure.
I don’t know if he has to. These all probably qualify as “Fair Use” under copyright laws. I’m sure Scott’s lawyer will yet him know if there’s a problem.
Actually, Orion is TEACHING in a very Zenlike manner.
sweet, i’ll try to put in a word then
btw i just realized why this page was like bothering me today. ORION DID A FORCE CHOKE ON SCOTT!!
Scott has the luxury to use as many pages as he wants to develop the characters. Showing a bit of back-sliding by Alex is quite realistic.
In a 2 hour movie, characters have to start and finish their maturation in a single, 5 second look of “Oh, I get it now.” I like it better the way Scott writes it.
We’ll see how much time there is to devote to Alex’s character development if a TDC movie is greenlit.
I’ve got enough things going on with the site. Enough things to click.
Adding one more is just too much. I had to “trim the fat”; so to speak. And Topwebcomics didn’t make the cut.
Centaurs are known as being rather serious. There’s also the situation to consider, and also, the student to be taught — were Alex seriously trying and failing, I doubt Orion would have reacted this way, but to the frivolous and thoughtless, best way to cut through their crap is a straight shot to the windpipe.
I wholly support Orion in this venture, because frankly, Alex needs it.
Yeah. If he did though that would make you wonder, wouldn’t it? If some kid had been a Star Wars junkie young enough to meet Orion and tell him about it, what sort of kid that would be?
PLOT TWIST!!! I So did not see that coming! I wonder why the centaur don’t like him (or humans)?
rofl :).
Now that I think about it, if Alex tells Nastajia about any and all abuse that he takes from Orion, she’d probably say he deserved it and end the conversation, even if Alex wished to specify what he endured.
I’d say the centaur has no problem with humans, I’d probably strangle Alex too if I was trying to teach him something important, time sensitive (the bad guy knows the location too), and got mocked for my efforts.
It’s not easy to change the habits of a lifetime on demand. To do it quickly demands a lot of motivation. When Felicity needed him, Alex did act with due gravitas. Now, it’s not at all a surprise that he reverts–until Orion explains the matter to him with sufficient clarity to motivate a change. Say, by using a choke-hold over a few thousand feet of cliff. 🙂
I, for one, am truly deeply scared of the last panel’s twist.
Weeell played, Mr. Sava, well played.
I think that all that pompous ‘I drift through life’ attitude is about to meet a V-2 to the face. And our dear Alex picked the worst/best teacher to deliver: a Centaur.
Really.
The world-reknowned masters of Zen-I’ll-whoop-your-ass training.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to go dude… it’s been nice to know ya…
(and Scott: love the twist, I just hope you don’t sprinkle it with sugary things. This runt has gotta learn some game… as his nemesis is, actuallly, a big player)
I thought the quote from Star Wars was “Do or do not, there is no try.”
I love it though, the quotes were great, and I kept thinking of the Matrix and Neo’s goal to jump across the buildings!
Buaha! I’ve been thinking that from the start of the whole flying thing! XD
You know… I think that I’ve actually found out WHY he’s doing it!
‘Your ego/armour is not a unbreakable guarantee of protection… wake up!’.
😐
You, my dear Ic, are an enlightened fellow.
ok.. I correct myself the quote is:
Luke: All right, I’ll give it a try.
Yoda: No. Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.
thanks to IMDb 🙂
Along with other qualities, centaurs apparently have much more upper body strength than a human of similar size. Picking up a maybe 150 lb. young man with probably 50 lbs of elven armor, and holding it effortlessly at arms length. I have trouble doing that with a phonebook!
Of course, it could also be the altered physics of Dreamland. But I like the Orion being a stud-muffin explanation better.
I assume that, if this were to gain a CGI-animated adaption, Dwayne Johnson would be the best voice talent for Orion. I think he could beautifully capture the deep-toned “righteous rage” being exhibited by Orion in this particular sequence.
Can’t blame Orion. Alex would be driving me nuts if I were him!
Personally Scott I can’t speak for other people but for me I forget. I need something big and obvious right at the bottom of the comic page. It’s only when I’m reading comments like this and someone says VOTE that I go “Oh yeah, voting”. So uh yeah I’ma gonna go vote now.
Well, this had to happen sooner or later. =P
Of course, if we, with all our resources, are having this much trouble getting the quote accurate, even though we recognize the general source…how can we expect Alex, off in Dreamland and unable to Google, to get it exactly right?
Technically it’s “Do or do not. There is no try.”
/nitpick.
🙂
well, that what alex gets for insulting a centaur.
Most universities have a Student Union building, at least that I’ve seen … I think it’s a rule or something …
😉
I don’t have an older brother, but I very much relate to Alex (and Nerdcore Steve) here.
For some people, an attempt at humor is a nervous reaction to stress, and in NO WAY indicates that they aren’t taking the matter seriously. They are merely using humor as a defense mechanism to relieve the stress and lighten the mood. And probably unconsciously, at that.
This may or may not be the case for Alex, and he probably won’t resent the manhandling as much as I would. (I’d get over it, but I’d be pretty torked for a while … )
Note to self
(Centaurs don’t like smart assess)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again —
Oh snap.
But… but… THERE REALLY IS NO SPOON ;.;
I gotta agree with everything you have there.
One person can only take so much B.S..
And “Mr. Orion Clipclop” made me lol. >_>
Scott…Pilgrim?
no mocking the shaman guy or he will mess you up !
WHOA, crap just got real!
So far as I’m aware… no you didn’t…
But to be honest Mr Miyagi and Yoda aren’t that different.
It is apparent that getting on a centuar’s bad side is not wise. But yeah, I was laughing too! 😀