Now that Toothgnip and his back-up singers are banished to parts known only to Tarfon, the next move seems to be Fineas', or Fineas's, if you prefer.

	0% (0)	Fish, eager to witness the filming of "Whiteout", will regain control, leap onto Tarfon, and have him open a portal to Antarctica. Unfortunately, the movie is being shot in Canada.
	11% (2)	Fineas will throw a bola (not a bolo) at Khan Jr's legs. But just before the kill, Diablo, surrogate fatherly instincts ablaze, will interfere. The referee, admonishing Gus for hair-pulling (though actually it was grooming), won't notice.
	23% (4)	Fineas will soliloquize for about a week on the nature of reality and the role of consciousness within it. He will invoke Gardner (Howard, not Martin), Dennett, Pinker, and lesser luminaries. Everyone else will feel strongly compelled to nap.
	35% (6)	Fineas will turn off the laptop's power. This will void the warranty for Universe 1.3, so that One Death and Co. will not be obliged to provide customer service. Not that they provided any in the first place.
	29% (5)	A capella, Fineas will start singing the opening verse of the closing number. The orchestra and the others will join in at the chorus. This will be Jon's way of convincing us to invest in "Infinite Typewriters: The Musical".

Can I pick both option 3 and 5? Because they're both awfully compelling and I don't believe they're entirely mutually exclusive. Though if forced at gunpoint to pick between them, I think I would pick the singing.

Somebody is getting lazy. Where is

"Jon is too hung over to post a new strip"?

In Response to Naelok (#31183):

I think I would pick the singing.

I imagine Fineas as a heldentenor like Siegfried (not Roy), Oliver as a dramatic baritone like Don Giovanni, and Diablo as a lyric baritone like Figaro. However, I'm willing to be convinced of other possibilities.

In Response to deerboy (#31184):

Where is "Jon is too hung over to post a new strip"?

Hey, I have to leave a few for people to post, right?

In Response to mkinyon (#31186):

You mean you didn't realize that Oliver is voiced by Gilbert Gottfried?

In Response to zamphir (#31188):

OK. I'll try to imagine Iago and/or Digit singing "Oh, statua gentilissima...." And then I'll take an aspirin.

So Fineas really is conflicted, but good [1]. We know he channels the greatest HTML coder in history [2]. But is that enough to delete Oliver? We have seen that Woody, who presumably has root/administrator privileges on the Banana laptop, was not able to do it [3]. On the other hand, Woody doesn't seem to have a real grasp of Xibalban software design.

Is it all a ruse? Is Fineas once again leading Oliver by the, uh, beak?

[1] 12 Dec 05 [goats.com]
[2] 3 Mar 05 [goats.com]
[3] 10 Nov 05 [goats.com]

In Response to mkinyon (#31216):

I doubt it'll end with Oliver being simply deleted. I think it would be a bit of a letdown if Oliver were killed without a physical duel. Perhaps Fineas will simply conjure two broadswords, along with a gauntlet for him to throw down, and the two may finally decide the matter in single combat.

In Response to Naelok (#31218):

I think it would be a bit of a letdown if Oliver were killed without a physical duel.

Auntie Climax is a harsh mistress. With reasonable rates, I might add.

My hope is that somewhere there is a handy taco sauce packet [1].

[1] 3 Feb 05 [goats.com]

In Response to mkinyon (#31219):

Then maybe that's what he'll conjure with the Universe computer?

Though you'll note that he knows how to kill a MAN with a taco sauce packet. He says nothing about his skill in utilizing taco sauce packets to kill chicks (as in baby chickens). So I'm going to go ahead and keep banking on broadswords coming into play.

In Response to Naelok (#31220):

Then maybe that's what he'll conjure with the Universe computer?

Maybe, but if he really isn't going for the straight delete, then perhaps he is trying to transform himself into a form more suitable for hand-to-fin combat.

Or maybe he'll turn himself into a giant as seen in every episode of every incarnation of Power Rangers. Yeah, yeah, I know, only the bad guys do that, not the conflicted-but-good guys, but you get the idea.

Regarding the taco sauce packet maneuver, why assume that what's left of Khan Junior is immune to it?

In Response to Naelok (#31218):

You really think Oliver would straight-up fight Fineas in any capacity? Oliver has shown he has a knack for getting around obstacles by alternate means. If Fineas tried a direct combat with Oliver, Oliver would bypass the swords and utilise trickery. Fineas is smart and crafty, but Oliver is just plain devious.

In Response to mkinyon (#31222):

Well, Fineas can certainly disable the Khan body with the taco packet manuever, but unless the manuever involves a crushing blow against the scalp, it won't kill Oliver himself.

Well, maybe he'll get Tarfon back and Tarfon will transform into a giant mech. Then Oliver can do the 'magic wand make my monster grow' bit.

If Fineas tried a direct combat with Oliver, Oliver would bypass the swords and utilise trickery. Fineas is smart and crafty, but Oliver is just plain devious.

Well, I meant the swords as a metaphor for some kind of direct conflict, rather than a simple delete key. It could be a battle of wits, but it still has to be a battle, is all I'm saying.

In Response to mkinyon (#31216):

actually, if oliver is a process, it should be killall -9 oliver (or something like that) instead of a rm right?

at least make it a -fr

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#31231):

Oops. Yes. Rats.

OR: hey, who says that the Banana's propietary OS follows Unix conventions?

Was that a good save?

In Response to mkinyon (#31237):

Moving on, we now seem to have a Wednesday cliffhanger. Where are Fish and Fineas in the last panel? Does the fact that the bar is red (not to mention that both of them are present) mean that this is the bar just next door to the Red Room in Fish's mind?

In Response to Llamarama (#31242):

Where are Fish and Fineas in the last panel?

According to the detailed strip information I entered just a few hours ago, it is "Fish's Psyche (Peculier Pub)". Yes, it's next to the Red Room.

I'm not so sure this is a cliffhanger. It seems to me that Fineas is about to make his exit from Goats and into Worlds of Peril. But other interpretations are possible, of course.

In Response to mkinyon (#31243):

It seems to me that Fineas is about to make his exit from Goats and into Worlds of Peril

What precisely are the Worlds of Peril, anyhow? I know they're another comic Jon runs that costs money, but are they integral to the Goats plotline?

It seems that it was Oliver who was cast out, rather than Fineas. Though there are still a lot of loose ends to wrap up in the story... like Jon and Phillip are still trapped over in the Stub, for instance.

In Response to Naelok (#31245):

What precisely are the Worlds of Peril, anyhow?

Become a Premium member [goats.com] and find out. Since people have mentioned it here already, I can say without getting into too much trouble that Fineas (or some parallel universe copy of Fineas) is also a character in that story. And no, you don't need to know anything about WoP to understand Goats.

It seems that it was Oliver who was cast out, rather than Fineas.

That's another interpretation: that Fineas just opened a portal around Oliver. However, that's not exactly what he told Tarfon to do....

In Response to mkinyon (#31243):

According to the detailed strip information I entered just a few hours ago, it is "Fish's Psyche (Peculier Pub)". Yes, it's next to the Red Room.

Where did you get that description? From Jon, or is it your own assessment? Do you have the inside scoop??

In Response to Llamarama (#31249):

You should [goats.com] be paying [goats.com] closer [goats.com] attention [goats.com].

In Response to mkinyon (#31247):

Become a Premium member [goats.com] and find out.

Actually, I recommend that nobody become a Premium member at this time. I will be making an announcement about Premium in the next couple of weeks.

In Response to jon (#31250):

You should [goats.com] be paying [goats.com] closer [goats.com] attention [goats.com].

Ah, yes! Forgot that scene--though in my weak defense, it started in the non-bar red room before they stepped into the quasi-Peculier.

In Response to Naelok (#31245):

It seems that it was Oliver who was cast out, rather than Fineas.

Yep, you were right, and I was wrong. I just wasn't expecting Oliver and pals to go so quietly. Of course, Tarfon could have interpreted "anywhere that isn't here" to be "about 100 meters away".

In Response to Llamarama (#31249):

Do you have the inside scoop??

No, that's Tynic, remember?