"Infinite Typewriters" is clattering to a close. Transitions are, for writers, the most challenging parts of these sorts of extended narratives. For we Goataku, it is a time to pause and reflect upon where the strip is headed.

	20% (5)	Fineas & Diablo will rescue Jon & Phillip, and the four will go home. Diablo will see an analyst recommended by Woody. J & P will secretly miss the stub. F will become a webcomic critic for Fleen. No one will read his reviews.
	29% (7)	Diablo & Fineas will return to a parallel Manhattan where everyone and everything is just as it was before. D & F will kill their counterparts and resume their old lives. No one will pay attention to their drunken mumblings about monkey dimensions.
	12% (3)	Tarfon's random number generator doesn't work properly, and so everyone will end up in the Peculier. There will be much shouting and pointing of fingers. Megan & Lauren will make everyone take a time-out. No one will notice J & P are missing.
	16% (4)	Carl & Roger will become the strip's new stars. In their new universe, they will become professional sidewalk chalk artists. Now used to teleportation, they'll sometimes enter drawings to dance with penguins. No one will find this behavior strange.
	20% (5)	D & F will return to some Peculier, and the strip will revert to gag-a-day stuff. F will bemoan his lack of a love life and D will utter non sequiturs. The art will repeat each day, because Jon is worn out after this storyline. No one will notice.

Oh, I didn't see this TCP before I complained of its absence in the other thread. My mistake.

I voted for the Carl and Roger option, but I think they should take over Jon and Philip's roles. I could see Carl and Megan getting along together, after all.

I would also like to issue kudos to you for coming up with the term 'Goataku'.

In Response to Naelok (#31260):

Firstly, it is good to see a Thursday poll where you have not completely ruined all the surprises for the following week.

Secondly, I think 'Goataku' is pretty much a perfect term.

In Response to jon (#31261):

I think 'Goataku' is pretty much a perfect term.

Roundly seconded. I actually looked at that term with mixed glee, horror, and amusement. Glee, because it's quite accurate and crosses boundaries with one of my other big genres. Horror, because the mind that would actually come up with that is clearly deranged. And amusement, because I know the Japanese as well as English definition of the root word, and we only really meet the latter.

Well, mostly the latter. But honestly, I'm female, socialized, do not live at home, and definitely don't read the comic for the sake of disproportionate boobies.

I would read the comic for sake, though. Hell, I'd read nearly any comic for sake.

In Response to jon (#31261):

Regarding the firstly: thanks. I actually try pretty hard to be wrong, and have been very surprised when the horseshoes landed closer than I thought they would. For instance, that Diablo really did run interference for Oliver caught me off guard.

If these things ever do seriously bug you, just tell me to stop and I will. Of course, if you really want me to get it completely wrong each week, you could just email me the scripts in advance.

You should imagine that last sentence ending with a big grinning emoticon.

In Response to sakuruth (#31263):

definitely don't read the comic for the sake of disproportionate boobies.

Of course not. You read it for the Great [goats.com] White Beast [goats.com], just as we all do.

In Response to jon (#31261):

I think 'Goataku' is pretty much a perfect term.

If you think you can use it in merchandising, feel free.

In Response to jon (#31261):

Firstly, it is good to see a Thursday poll where you have not completely ruined all the surprises for the following week.

Do you mean that none of these poll options are coming true? Not even one? I'd so wanted to see who Carl and Roger would hit on at the Peculier...

In Response to mkinyon (#31265):

For instance, that Diablo really did run interference for Oliver caught me off guard.

Me too! That was pretty benevolent act for the son of s(a)tan. I think I still would've preferred to have some broadswords, but I guess that such a duel may be left for the grand finale of Infinite Typewriters V: Khan Jr. Strikes Back.

In Response to Llamarama (#31268):

Do you mean that none of these poll options are coming true? Not even one? I'd so wanted to see who Carl and Roger would hit on at the Peculier...

That would be giving out information on next week's cartooning. Which our grand chickenmaster would never do, due to his membership of the cabal of evil cartoonists. Plus, confirming that there would be none of these plots in itself means that we will not be surprised to see them turn up.

Therefore there may still be an element of truth in these options.

And you're being hanged on monday.

In Response to mkinyon (#31265):

If these things ever do seriously bug you, just tell me to stop and I will.

Nah, they're fine. I choose to see it as a vindication of how clearly the pieces of the story were laid out that you were so easily able to assemble them, rather than a fault of my predictability. Ahem.

The big surprise is still safe, so I'm happy. Next week you'll get a glimpse of what Goats will be for the next seven years or so.

In Response to jon (#31275):

So there *will* be another seven years or so.

In Response to zamphir (#31276):

Well, maybe. I haven't decided yet.

In Response to jon (#31278):

Cool. Now I have something to write about for tonight's Fleen post!

News Flash:

Jon Rosenberg admits he might possibly be considering thinking about ending one of the longest running webcomics out there - the inimitable and enviously fantastic Goats.

Thousands of fans are known to be sobbing in the streets, and Jeff Roland has personally sworn to hunt Jon down and give him such a wedgie if he quits.

Tarfon's random number generator doesn't work properly

Are you saying that it is a quantum number generator. Cuz I need one of them.

In Response to deerboy (#31283):

Are you saying that it is a quantum number generator.

Beats me. It wouldn't surprise me. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Oliver figured out how to get around Pauli exclusion.

Of course, if all you need is spin, I'm sure you can find a reasonably fair coin somewhere.

In Response to mkinyon (#31286):

Of course, if all you need is spin, I'm sure you can find a reasonably fair coin somewhere.

As long as the Graiae are sleeping.

In Response to sakuruth (#31263):

I know the Japanese as well as English definition of the root word

I don't know Japanese, but the following amuses me:
1. Search for 'Goataku' in Google.
2. Click the 'Did you mean:' link.
3. Imagine applying that form of art to a certain Goats character.

Yes, I'm easily amused.

In Response to Euan (#31272):

And you're being hanged on monday.

What? Are you sure about that? And I have to find out on a Goats Forum, fer cryin' out loud?? Why didn't anyone tell me? I mean, I may have missed a few e-mails in the last week, but I think that I would have noticed that...

In Response to jon (#31275):

Next week you'll get a glimpse of what Goats will be for the next seven years or so.

Do I sense another Great Goats Reset [goats.com] coming? Or is Fineas about to get his comeuppance?

I like the word 'comeuppance' [imdb.com].

In Response to jon (#31275):

Ha! "Next seven years or so," he says. We should have guessed.

By the way, for those interested in this sort of thing, the Wikipedia article Maya calendar [wikipedia.org] is a breath of fresh air in the smog of New Age nonsense. See particularly the section "End of the world?".

In Response to mkinyon (#31306):

Newbies unaware of what will really happen in 2012 might want to look at the copyright information at the bottom of the MG3 [megagamerz.com] site.

In Response to mkinyon (#31306):

I hope that Jon isn't announcing his retirement six years in advanced. I personally am not going to let Jon off the hook six years hence. Who's with me?

Also, apparently Woody Allen is playing the part of Nathan Brazil [megagamerz.com].

I hate Jon for this.