Putting the evil in basketball
Uh-oh, Rex has snapped…
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What are the chances of being on the page and you post new page?!
Intimidation, Rex, good job.
BTW, where’s Kai’s entourage? Encourage? Much needing.
That chance is pretty big on a Monday around that time xD
Kai’s entourage will be around next week, look forward to it ^^
Nothing like a Wolf that’s howling
when his face shows he’s scowling.
You know you couldn’t win this, Kai,
it’s for pride in being the waterguy.
You still have the chance to impress
What it will take is anyones’ guess.
The game was never going to be over,
it was too early to go and swim in clover.
Your confidence has taken a hit
and he’ll come back, bit after bit,
but you can ride the time out and win
If the tricks’ over, the schooling will begin.
Rex has the “eyes of the tiger” , now . Time to go back in the reality for Kai : dream is over
Yeah, Rex is not really playing around anymore.
Kai! Language! At least curse in Dovahzul next time! The word you’re thinking is “Draaf”. Beautiful artwork as always, Robin. And a great story thus far. Just please, I wasn’t kidding about the language. It’s your story. Do what you want. But swearing doesn’t really seem to fit Kai if you ask me. Although he is your character. You know him much better than I. For everyone: I’m still looking for suggestions for potions we could hit Kai or Rex with in that extra panel of Robin has some spare time! A penalty for whichever one loses or a prize for whichever one wins. Be creative! Wether he wins or loses, I might be brewing up one for Kai now though. Kaya, got anything to suggest to me? Cleo? Benji? I’m sure of if you has to have some idea. *Smirk.* Especially you Kaya. Oh well. Keep it up, Robin. Can’t wait to see where the story goes next.
If Kai wins, give him a potion that gives him wings for a bit (maybe a day?).
That’s a good idea! I think he’d love that! If Robin can draw it.
Thanks. Kai is indeed not a kid that swears a lot, but in some situations, I think everyone swears. This situation is quite a shocker so I deemed it suitable to include it here to drive home the point that this is an ‘oh sh**’ moment for Kai.
I suppose you do have a point there. I’m actually really weird about swearing though. I never do it in English. When I want to swear, I’ll curse you out in a different language. xD Usually French, Russian, or Dovahzul.
I’m french ………….
I believe the word Kai’s looking for is not “SH**”, but rather “FEWMETS”…
…it has the extra advantage of tying into a hunting-metaphor, since it’s what the hunter examines-&-follows to track their prey.
Meanwhile:
That laughter is no more than “psyche warfare” / “intimidation”, since he never intended to “let” Kai have any points anyway.
Also true. Some very good points coming up here.
For the sake of completeness, I will point out that there are people who do not use profanity, even in shocking/angering situations. When I’m mad I typically yell something like “shoot,” “goodness’ sakes,” or “doggone it.” I recognize that I’m weird, of course. 🙂 In literature, one has to decide how to use profanity on case-by-case basis of what’s appropriate to the character, the overall tone of the work, and the audience.
I’m surprised to see after all this time that no-one has pointed out what I consider to be a key point here…
…that Kai’s profanity is within his PRIVATE THOUGHTS, & not spoken aloud.
Who among us is truly as careful to censor themselves while in their own head as they are when speaking aloud?
“Dadgum Minerva, this is Fowlmouth! Dadgum Shirley’s outta town for the Dadgum weekend…” –Animaniacs 😉
Or, there’s always Calvin’s Dad: http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1987/12/24
Anyway, I am with you, Runningflame. 🙂 It seems to be a rare exception these days, but there are still a few folks who do not use course language. Kai is right in that age range (14 years) where kids want to be edgy and adult… or at least not act like a misfit who draws negative attention upon himself by being an “obnoxious, overly pristine goody-two-shoes”. As much as I might wish it were different, I feel like all of the youngsters in the cast are not really ones to be bothered by such things. In fact, there are a couple of H bombs (AKA “The H Word” 😉 being dropped in the very first few strips.
Maybe one day Kai will become a famous b-ball player, and (unlike Charles Barkley 😉 he will realize that he IS a role model and folks do look up to him. Maybe that’ll be the impetus he needs to avoid the rough language. 🙂 At the moment, though, he’s just behaving like a relatively normal 21st century teenager, for better or worse.
Okay, Alpha… how about these:
If Rex loses, he drinks a potion that makes him lose all of his hair (but NOT his fur). Either that, or his hair gets overly stylized, like what happened to Beast in the original animated Beauty and the Beast movie (“You look so.. so….” “Stupid!”). 😉
If Kai loses, he has to drink a potion that turns him into a “Shrimp” hybrid, since that’s how Rex kept teasing him before.
If Rex wins, he doesn’t drink a potion, but he gets to give Kaya a potion that makes her hair magically weave itself into the shape of a bunch of habanero peppers. (What is it with Rex and hair-inspired potions, anyway???)
If Kai wins, he drinks a potion that gives him “NBA Jam”-esque style/moves and magically transports him into the finals of the NBA slam dunk contest. B)
Can’t put him in the finals, but the rest is good. xP
Even though “goal” is shorter, “basket” is the term usually used in basketball.
That or “point.”
Not being a native talker has its weaknesses sometimes. I looked it up a while ago and some sites also talked about goals, so I went with that. Guess I was wrong :p
Argh. I meant to leave a remark about this in the stream earlier today (AKA yesterday ;), but it completely slipped my mind!
Anyway, you are not wrong Sensei. “Field goal” is actually the official term as good ole Wikipedia explains. 🙂
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field_goal_(basketball)
However, Lucario is also not wrong at least as far as American English would go. I’d guess most folks would probably expect “point” in Rex’s dialog. :} They’d also probably associate “goal” with either soccer or hockey… and “field goal” with American football. Sadly, few Americans would associate “goal” with Konata’s explanation of the importance of visualization when explaining how she runs fast in Lucky Star. 😉
Sensei, I hear Lucario is volunteering to be your cultural/linguistic editor… or I could be totally making stuff up (would I do such a thing???? ;).
Now you fake a tail ache, and leave while at the top
I think that would void the bet though :p
Well damn, now he gets serious. I’d have hoped that Kai had already proven himself at his point, but Rex seems hard to impress.
I miss Kaya, I hope we see her soon.
Kaya will be here again soon ^^
Rex isn’t easy to impress, but it’s also that Kai has struck a nerve.
That eye-between-his-fingers thing, not the first time he has done that. Is it a reference to anything? Almost seems like an anime villain pose or something. Then again, most of Rex’s facial expressions seem somewhat over-the-top.
I think that, to a small extent, Rex may actually -be- deliberately playing a bit over-the-top. Being as big as he is (compared to Kai), and as good a basketball player as he is known to be (especially when compared to Kai), and with having sooo much more experience than Kai, Rex will have a hard time looking like a -good- guy at the end of this game, regardless of how it comes out.
p.s. I love the change in Kai’s expression between the first and last panels! 🙂
It’s not a reference to anything (that I consciously know of) but just something Rex tends to do when he’s like this :p
Now that you mention it, I think I remember a guy in Prince Of Tennis who does that. Kirihara Akaya maybe? Like Rex he’s also evil and has a touch of insanity, but I assume that Rex won’t start brutal foul play when he gets behind.
Rex doesn’t really come off as evil at all to me, just…. overzealous and a bit overly prideful.
I think Robin tried to make him be the bad guy what with him having been so arrogant towards Kai one week earlier, too.
Also: The title of this comic page says it all. 😀
I tend to do something similar quite often… but mostly because I’m really sensitive to light.
Dovahbear says never underestimate a dragon, wolfy.
However…….
*cue Harlem Globetrotter Montage*
But we should not underestimate Rex either :p
I think you don’t understand.
When I say “cue the Harlem Globetrotter Montage”, now we are (probably) going to see Rex aka Wolfy make Kai look like a total clown on the court because now Wolfy is taking him seriously.
I think you can see some Harlem Globetrotter footage on YouTube somewhere…..last I heard they are still active, just not famous like they used to be in the 70’s and early to mid 80’s.
Wait…make Kai look like a clown?
So Rex is going to make Kai drag him into the sewers and murder him horribly? How is that good strategy in basketball?!
Maybe you need to go find out who the Harlem Globetrotters are before you embarrass yourself further.
i just found this comic today and it was awesome especially the art
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the comic. ^^
(and the story line!)
“”Rex should audition as a Disney villain””
“Sleeping beauty” The prince kills the dragon – “Beauty and the beast” The beast kills Gaston (accidentally) – “The little mermaid” The prince kills the octopus-woman …………………… “The great challenge” Kai kills Rex with a shabang … ? https://www.twindragonscomic.com/comic/shabang/
Whatever gets the job done, I suppose. :p
Hmm…that would be the point to up the ante, actually.
If Kai were to say, ‘Bet I can still do it’, he would increase his chances dramatically.
He would then win if he only scored one more point instead of racing to 20, which Rex will now make a lot more difficult, if not to say ‘impossible’.
After all, he has height advantage, superior endurance and a lot more experience in basketball.
If Kai wants to win this, he needs to play at Rex’ biggest weakness.
His pride.
That’s what I would have told Kai to do if I had been the coach at least.
Rile him up, make him angry, then, when he gets cocky, strike the final blow.
Now THAT’S thinking like a dragon! I applaud you Refugnic. I applaud you.
Na. Kai is a walking talking flamethrower and Rex is a floofy wolf. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing in the rule book about accidental burping… Now that’s thinking like a dragon.
Last time I’ve checked, Kai wanted to be on the team, not get the team leader hospitalized and himself banned from the gym for the rest of his school life.
And ‘thinking like a dragon’ would likely include devouring something as puny as a little wolf. 😉
Given Kai’s inexperience with basketball (and team sports at a whole) to begin with, even if the coach told him that, it might have gone over his head and the effect might have been diminished. That’s why the coach kept it simple, given he only had a week to whip Kai into shape.
This particular tactic isn’t about Basketball though.
It’s about ‘pushing buttons’.
Something a sibling should be well versed in.
A twin sibling even more so.
Thing is, if Kai wants to win this without damaging his credibility, he’ll need a ‘dirty’ move like that.
As you stated: He’s been playing Basketball for like a week, his opponent has been playing for years.
The two points he’s made thus far have been possible, because Rex underestimated him quite gravely.
So either he suddenly becomes a superstar basketball player (which would be quite incredible), something happens and they need to abort the game (making Kai ‘win’, cause he’s in the lead), he manages to taunt Rex into essentially throwing the game (or making it a lot easier for him at least) or he loses.
I think that’s all the options.
I’m not so sure that ALL of Kai’s “cards” have been played yet.
1)__He’s shown that a scaly-tail can control a ball much better than a floofy-tail person would expect.
2)__He’s shown a higher-than-expected jump, for someone of his size.
…what he HASN”T yet shown:
3)__His raw strength. Once his practice-drills improve his aim, he’ll be able to shoot baskets from ANYWHERE on the court.
4)__His ability to dribble the ball (skillfully-enough to impress a professional coach). Used sparingly, this could serve him well.
5)__His “cheetah”-level of speed, & the corresponding lack of endurance (which is best kept in reserve, as an “Ace-In-The-Hole”).
P.S.:
Combine (2) with (3), by jumping high & shooting at the apex of the jump, & NOBODY will be able to block his shots…
…Which is yet another reason to PRACTICE YOUR AIM, Kai!
P.P.S.:
To [Refugnic] – while running down this list of skills, 2 more options occurred to me. If Rex can see past his pride to recognize Kai’s skill-set, he might choose to either:
1)__Concede the game, & put Kai on the team.
2)__Go ahead (due to his pride) & beat Kai, but then put him on the team, rather than waste Kai’s talents by having him as just a water-boy.
He going to cheat at some point
Nah, he’s got a reputation to uphold ^^
And people who know the rules watching, so definitely not
So this is the 2nd boss phase where Kai gets the floor wiped with himself and he has to go back and grind out levels for 45 minutes before even standing a chance to try again. >:3
Why do I have a feeling there will be a nervous fireball? https://ozyandmillie.org/2000/10/11/ozy-and-millie-487/
When is the next comic pages coming out? i´m looking towards the next ones
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“FAQ
What’s the update schedule?
Every Monday! You can follow updates on Facebook, twitter, tumblr, deviantart, RSS or even get it in the mail through this mailing list.”
Granted, due to time differences it might technically be Tuesday.
cool,thanks for telling me
I just found this new feature on TWC: http://topwebcomics.com/bonus
Looks like free advertising. Do you want to send some pics to them, e.g. vote incentives or cover pages etc.? Currently it’s just roughly 5 different comics and I would like to see more variety in there.
im sick so i wont be able to go to school tomorrow and ill have to stay in my bedroom,but ill be able to read this,thank you so much robin (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ( ﾟヮﾟ) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This can’t be good.