Editing 286: All Your Base

{{comic
| number    = 286
| date      = July 6, 2007
| title     = All Your Base
| image     = all_your_base.png
| titletext = The AYB retro-return-date (Zero Wing Zero Hour) should be around AD 2021.
}}

==Explanation==
The comic refers to a popular internet phenomenon ({{w|internet meme|meme}}) called "{{w|all your base are belong to us}}." This catchphrase originated from the arcade shooter game "{{w|Zero Wing}}" and is a popular example of a {{w|Engrish|poor translation}} into the English language. The phrase was popularized throughout the Internet and referenced in various images and videos. It is considered one of the earliest Internet memes, with the first occurrences dating back to the year 1998.

[[Cueball]] has, according to the comic, participated in the spread of the meme during its heyday. [[Ponytail]], examining Cueball's root directory, wonders at his keeping the content he created years ago, as the meme's popularity has decreased massively since then. Cueball answers that this was always his favorite meme, and that he is waiting for the day it gets revived. His second-to-last line, "What you say''!!''," is a line from the game as well, although he says it much sooner than its supposed return to popularity.

By using the example of internet memes, the comic also relates to the general principle of {{w|fashion}}, that everything once popular will, after a long enough time, be again in vogue. Trends experiencing this renaissance are often referred to as {{w|retro}}. Internet phenomena can be observed to follow the same rule, although with much shorter intervals due to the speed of information turnover.

The title text prophesies the return of the "all your base" (AYB) meme in 2021 (similar-sounding to "AD 2101," the date mentioned at the beginning of the game). It also contains a pun on the term "{{w|zero hour}}" and the name of the game, which initially brought the phrase into fashion.

The title text's prediction may have been recently fulfilled by [https://twitter.com/aoc/status/1086483485668319233?lang=en Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez].

==Trivia==
The comic shows the file "allyourbase_original.swf", being a flash file. But, in the beginning of 2021, the projected renaissance date of the meme, Flash Player was [https://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/end-of-life.html discontinued] by Adobe, adding another - albeit not intended - twist to the comic.

==Transcript==
:[A section of a Linux terminal window is shown. Text from window:]
 ~ /$ ls /
 ayb    boot    etc     lib ...
 bin    dev     home    mnt ...
 ~/ $ ls /ayb/
 allyourbase_original.swf al...
 allyourbase_remix.swf      ...
 allyourbase_remix2.swf   b ...
 ayb_acapella.mp3         ze...
 ayb_images               ze...
 ayb_orchestral.mp3        ....

:[Ponytail is at a computer.]
:Ponytail: What's with the All Your Base stuff? Didn't that die like five years ago?
:[From off-panel]: Yes.

:[Cueball enters the panel.]
:Cueball: It was my first internet meme, and my favorite. Others tired of it, but I never did.
:Cueball: So I wait.

:[Cueball raises his fists.]
:Cueball: Someday, decades from now, people will have forgotten. It will be fresh again.
:Cueball: Retro.
:Cueball: And when that day comes,

:Cueball: ''I WILL BE READY!''
:Ponytail: You need a hobby or something.
:Cueball: What you say!!
:Cueball: Wait, too soon.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Internet]]