Editing 549: Westley's a Dick

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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This is an alternate take on the 1973 fantasy romance novel ''{{w|The Princess Bride (novel)|The Princess Bride}}'' written by {{w|William Goldman}} which became a {{w|The Princess Bride (film)|film in 1987}}.  
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{{incomplete|Inigo isn't explained and there are too many brackets.}}
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This is an alternate take on the 1973 fantasy romance novel ''{{w|The Princess Bride}}'' written by {{w|William Goldman}} which became a {{w|The Princess Bride (film)|film in 1987}}.  
  
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In the movie the main character, Buttercup, believes she has lost her first love to the Dread Pirate Roberts years ago. In the present she is considered one of the most beautiful women of the land and so is being married off to a prince. To provoke a war she has been kidnapped by mercenaries, one of whom is a very honorable Spanish swordsman named Inigo Montoya. A man claiming to be the Dread Pirate Roberts rescues her. On verifying his identity as Roberts, she attacks him by pushing him down a hill. While tumbling down the hill he shouts back "as you wish" identifying him as her first love. She tumbles after, landing on top of him as in the start of this comic.
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The below explanation is full of '''spoilers''' regarding the story.<br />
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The story takes place in the country of Florin. Buttercup (played by {{w|Robin Wright}} and here depicted as a girl with long hair) was a farmer who took her greatest joy from bossing Westley ({{w|Cary Elwes}} here depicted as [[Cueball]] with a black {{w|bandana}}) around like a servant. His only reply to her requests would be, "As you wish". As time passed, Buttercup realized that when Westley said "As you wish", what he really meant was "I love you". And one day she realized that she truly loved him back.
  
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There are, however, several "dick moves" Westley must have made in order for the film's narrative to make sense.
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However, having no money for marriage, Westley went away to seek his fortune across the sea. Buttercup soon received word that Westley had been murdered by the {{w|Dread Pirate Roberts}}, and for days she neither slept nor ate, falling into a deep despondency and swearing that she would never love again.
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# He took over as the Dread Pirate Roberts becoming a pirate and therefore not respectable, killing people, sacking ports, and looting ships for a living.
 
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# Over the last five years, Westley has allowed Buttercup to believe that he'd been murdered, preventing her getting on with the rest of her life.
 
  
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Westley breaks the fourth wall and claims he did all of these things for the sake of the {{w|narrative}}. In other words, he did it to make the story better.  
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Five years later, the aged King of Florin is near death, and the heir apparent, Prince Humperdinck, chooses Buttercup to be his bride, considering her to be the fairest maiden in the land. However, Buttercup doesn't love him. One day, while out riding, she is captured by three bandits — a Sicilian self-proclaimed genius named Vizzini, Spanish swordsman Inigo Montoya, and gentle giant Fezzik. (Vizzini is the only one of the trio who's genuinely malevolent, though.) The trio had been hired by Humperdinck to kill Buttercup and make it look like rival nation Guilder was responsible, giving Humperdinck the only excuse he needs to start a war between the two countries.
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In the comic Buttercup realizes that Westley has behaved like a dick and chooses to give her love to Inigo Montoya. But in the movie, Westley and Buttercup end up together in spite of this behavior!
 
  
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The title text shows what looks like a message she and Inigo have written together, for instance in a heart on a tree. Inigo is the Spaniard referred to by Buttercup. Their names, then forever (4eva) and a heart (smiley heart = "<3"), implying they did end up together according to this version of the story.  Alternatively, it could simply be the narrator expressing his wish that this will come to pass.
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What they didn't count on was that Westley, wearing the outfit of a "Man in Black" (all-black clothing, sword, and black mask) was following them to stop them. Catching up to the trio, Westley defeats Inigo in fencing, Fezzik in hand-to-hand combat (rendering the two of them unconscious), and then kills Vizzini in a battle of wits.
  
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It is not the first time [[Randall]] has referenced this movie, as the Dread Pirate was referenced in [[345: 1337: Part 5]], and a quote from this movie is in the title text of [[1427: iOS Keyboard]]. So it seems like a film that has some meaning for Randall.
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Westley doesn't reveal his identity to Buttercup at first, but he gladly admits to being the Dread Pirate Roberts. Believing him to have been responsible for Westley's death, Buttercup gets into a vehement argument with him, culminating with her saying, "I ''died'' that day! And you can die too, for all I care!"
  
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Note: It's quite possible Westley hasn't been killing people as a pirate at all. People had been surrendering to The Dread Pirate Roberts without a fight for years before he took over the role, due to the terror of his name. Of course, there may be a few people who needed to be killed, over the years, but the implication in the book (and movie) is that at least most surrender without a fight and are presumably unharmed.
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She pushes him off a hill, with Westley replying "Aaaaaass... yoooooouuuu... wiiiiiish!" on the way down. Finally realizing who he is, she rolls down after him, and that's the point at which this comic picks up.
  
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If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, you may find it helpful to read the synopsis of the book {{w|The_Princess_Bride#Plot_summary|here}}.
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There are, however, several fundamentally questionable decisions Westley had to have made in order for the film's narrative to make any sense whatsoever. He took over as the Dread Pirate Roberts from the man previously known as Roberts — who ''also'' isn't the original DPR. Westley became, at minimum, the fourth man known as the Dread Pirate Roberts — it's a legacy name designed to evoke fear into the populace. (As he said, no one would surrender to the Dread Pirate ''Westley''.)
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But over the last five years, while earning the previous Roberts' respect, taking over for him and then making his fortune, Westley has allowed Buttercup to believe that he'd been murdered, preventing her getting on with the rest of her life. And now he kills people, sacks ports, and loots ships for a living.
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Buttercup asks him why he let her believe he was dead. He tries to evade her question by blaming her for sleeping with the prince, but she only did that after having mourned him for years. She then continues to blame him for killing people, where his only excuse is that he would not have been a dread pirate if he hadn't.
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In the end he claims that it was for the sake of {{w|narrative}} - without it there would be no story to tell.
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"Fuck narrative", the comic's Buttercup says. "I'm gonna go see if that Spaniard's single." (ie. Inigo). As she says this, walking away, Westley replies, as he always did, "As you wish" - this is also the last line in the movie, although there it is said by the narrator not Westley.
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Of course, Inigo has had to be a bad guy for awhile now himself, but he admitted even to Westley that he was just doing it to pay the bills.
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The conclusion is that Westley has behaved like a dick, hence the title of the comic. It is not the first time [[Randall]] has referenced this movie, as the Dread Pirate was referenced in [[345: 1337: Part 5]], and a quote from this movie is in the title text of [[1427: iOS Keyboard]]. So it seems like a film that has some meaning for Randall. So maybe he likes it, but if you think too much about the story, you realize how awful the hero of the story, Westley, actually behaves. In the movie, he and Buttercup end up together in spite of this behavior!
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The title text shows what looks like a message she and Inigo has written together, for instance in a heart on a tree. Inigo is the Spaniard referred to by Buttercup. Their names, then forever (4eva) and a heart (smiley heart = "<3"), Implying they did end up together according to this version of the story.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==

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