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Annotations Every Day - Written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn - Illustrated by John & Jason Waltrip

I don't know what's more worrisome: The fact that the game sounded totally legit to these kids, or that none of them bothered to ask what the second rule was.

Chapter 3 – Page 5

on January 13, 2010
Chapter: Chapter 03
└ Tags: Best, Byron, Frigg, Gravedust, Her Grace Iwatani, His Grace Iwatani, Misa Iwatani, Syr'Nj, The Heads of Houses
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Discussion (42) ¬

  1. Michael Ezra
    Michael Ezra
    January 13, 2010, 12:08 am | # | Reply

    The second rule is, you do not talk about the burlap sack.

    • FreddeX
      FreddeX
      May 9, 2011, 1:55 pm | # | Reply

      3rd RULE: If someone says “stop” or goes limp, it is nothing to worry about.

      4th RULE: Only three guys to a burlap sack.

      5th RULE: One burlap sack at a time.

      6th RULE: No shirts, no shoes, no poor kids, no cries for help and no guardsmen.

      7th RULE: The games will go on as long as they have to.

      8th RULE: If this is your first time in the burlap sack , you HAVE to enter it.

  2. Iocane
    Iocane
    January 13, 2010, 12:22 am | # | Reply

    You don’t ask questions.

  3. phrame
    phrame
    January 13, 2010, 2:03 am | # | Reply

    And then you just lost the game…

    • figgyleaf
      figgyleaf
      April 23, 2010, 3:01 pm | # | Reply

      DAMNYOU!!!!!!

      • Mr. Potato Patato Von Spudsworth III
        Mr. Potato Patato Von Spudsworth III
        April 21, 2016, 5:17 am | # | Reply

        I WILL FIND YOU FOR THIS!!!

        PS: you are now manually breathing!

  4. King of Zeroes
    King of Zeroes
    January 13, 2010, 3:13 am | # | Reply

    Children. Their stupidity hurdles even the boundaries of art.

    Serves the little snots right. I’m not sure what they did, if anything, but I’m certain that they deserve whatever terribly funny fate awaits them.

    Back in MY day, my parents made sure I didn’t go with strangers the only way that worked. They beat the idiot out of me with a stick. And look how I turned out. A pillar of society!

    • Phil
      Flo
      January 13, 2010, 3:14 pm | # | Reply

      Stop talking. Please.

    • SotiCoto
      SotiCoto
      June 20, 2013, 11:25 am | # | Reply

      Looks only half-done to me.
      We’ll need a bigger stick.

  5. Buzzard
    Buzzard
    January 13, 2010, 3:44 am | # | Reply

    I think the rich guy in panel one was just on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart unironically protesting against civil rights for homosexuals.

    Frigg has the right idea- not only is there a huge bowl of pickled trilobites for chowin’ down on, she also gets to make snooty rich people Make A Face. It’s a win all around!

    • kingleon
      kingleon
      January 13, 2010, 12:40 pm | # | Reply

      They look more like pickled phyllocarids to me. Or perhaps, you know, shrimp.

      …I’m an invertebrate palaeobiologist.

      • Buzzard
        Buzzard
        January 15, 2010, 6:38 am | # | Reply

        …Awesome. I was gonna go with “pickled anomalocaris”, but I couldn’t remember off the top of my head what the plural was, and more people have heard of trilobites anyway. Which is terrible, because anomalocarids were some of the coolest things that ever existed.

      • SotiCoto
        SotiCoto
        June 20, 2013, 11:26 am | # | Reply

        Oh cool.
        Palaeo crew represent… *fistbump*

        Therapsids were more my thing.

    • Catbus
      Catbus
      January 13, 2010, 6:19 pm | # | Reply

      Hey, now we know who ordered the seafood platter.

  6. Sariel
    Sariel
    January 13, 2010, 5:48 am | # | Reply

    ….. Alright then, think that counts as “Too stupid to live”…., even for kids.

    • Raiu
      Raiu
      December 12, 2012, 4:50 pm | # | Reply

      No my friend. That is the nobility for you.

      Phesant children at least have the common curtsey to fight over the piece of cheese you throw into the sack.

      Noble children just whine that it wasn’t cake.

      Damn nobility…

  7. Fren
    Fren
    January 13, 2010, 7:46 am | # | Reply

    I would have to agree … any child stupid enough to pile into a burlap sack with a bunch of smelly children is probably not worth the expense of rescue. Natural selection is at work.

  8. Carl-E
    Carl-E
    January 13, 2010, 8:28 am | # | Reply

    A party game, eh? And just who was throwing the party?

    Remember kids, if you’re not at a party, party games are immediately suspect…

  9. Michael Ezra
    Michael Ezra
    January 13, 2010, 11:27 am | # | Reply

    Granted, this is a humour comic and all, but I’m a little surprised at all the “stupid kids deserved to be kidnapped” comments. They’re kids. And kidnapping is a crime regardless of the intelligence of the victim.

    • King of Zeroes
      King of Zeroes
      January 13, 2010, 12:38 pm | # | Reply

      Kids suck.

      • Phil
        Flo
        January 13, 2010, 3:21 pm | # | Reply

        Dude what is your beef?

        Did a baby steal your candy?

        • King of Zeroes
          King of Zeroes
          January 13, 2010, 10:20 pm | # | Reply

          Yes. And one day I will exact my terrible revenge.

        • SotiCoto
          SotiCoto
          June 20, 2013, 11:43 am | # | Reply

          People suck. Kids are little people. Ergo kids suck.
          Quod Erat Demonstrandum

          *Accidentally summons a Tanar’ri*

  10. Wyrd
    Wyrd
    January 13, 2010, 12:28 pm | # | Reply

    I have to agree, Michael. If anyone should be blamed(other than the kidnappers, of course) it’s the parents. If you know your kid is either that stupid or that young, then you are responsible for watching them, or at least making certain they are watched. Note that I am not in favor of the overprotective coddling that many parents practice; I’m just saying that you need to know what level of supervision your kids need.

    If it is a Magic burlap sack of holding and child ensnaring, with optional parental/guardian distraction field, then the blame falls entirely on the kidnappers, and the parents can be excused =)

    Also, why did all of the boys want a tiara? Is the goal of the game to pick the pretty, pretty princess? I find it funny that it was the girl who was smart enough not to fall for it.

    • Andras
      Andras
      January 13, 2010, 3:28 pm | # | Reply

      Clearly it’s a manly tiara. A manly tiara of manliness.

      Alternatively, to give to a girl.

    • TheTokenShadow
      TheTokenShadow
      January 14, 2010, 11:10 am | # | Reply

      Unfortunately, most parents back in the dark ages/medieval period were less than attentive and left the raising of children to servants. Often resentful and/or neglectful servants. Hmmm….I wouldn’t be surprised if the pirates had paid one of them to “look the other way”.
      Subject change: I don’t see Bandit anywhere. Quick, check the silverware! (That could be a new motto.)

  11. TraderInTown
    TraderInTown
    January 13, 2010, 3:28 pm | # | Reply

    Perhaps the kids are simply naive. They might just think that pirates are as friendly as everyone else they see everyday, it’s the only thing they’ve been exposed to.

    I also speculate that the boys’ may not even know what a pirate is(although this doesn’t change the fact that every boy wants to be a pirate/ninja/both).

    Plus, while Blond Bard is simply bragging to the populace, the real adventurers are gathering info. And he thinks /they’re/ the coat-tail riders. Or he will.

  12. Nate
    Nate
    January 13, 2010, 6:13 pm | # | Reply

    Upside to the stupidity: You may be able to charge more for a rescue mission that averts natural selection.

    Also: How the hell didn’t anyone else notice pirates stuffing children into a burlap sack!?! On the street?!?

  13. TraderInTown
    TraderInTown
    January 13, 2010, 6:43 pm | # | Reply

    Pirates can be very sociable, it’s not all random gun shots, drinking, and not-so-random cannon rounds fired at merchant ships.

    People are also oblivious to the most blatant things.

  14. SteelRaven
    SteelRaven
    January 13, 2010, 7:09 pm | # | Reply

    Always though Pirates invented the “FREE CANDY!” bit.

  15. Pyre
    Pyre
    January 13, 2010, 8:10 pm | # | Reply

    Given that most of the animosity in the comic world seems to be directed at non-humans, and the whole world is hovering (apparently) around a medieval level of development, it’s not a far stretch to imagine children believing that human strangers who seem nice and are offering gifts would take the statement at face value.

    Also/alternately, the stupidity is intentional to enhance the comedy. I, for one, lol’d.

    Also, I’d like to say I feel huge affection for one character in particular, but they’re all just so fantastic. Byron is perhaps my favorite (though I swear the next game I DM is going to have an Expy of Frigg in it somewhere).

  16. Carapace
    Carapace
    January 13, 2010, 9:00 pm | # | Reply

    How did the kidnappers carry a sack filled with all the little boys? And what counts as little? Are there, like, ten year olds in there?

    I mean, are Our Heroes, and also Payet, going to be chasing after thieves who blend right in and are carrying a wee sack o’ holding, or is there going to be a hilarious if brief chase of two burly guys staggering along the main street, griping about how children are heavy?

    • Ali
      Ali
      January 13, 2010, 9:37 pm | # | Reply

      “Our Heroes, and also Payet”

      I love this almost as much as Syr’nj’s face in the second panel.

  17. Ferrous
    Ferrous
    January 13, 2010, 10:45 pm | # | Reply

    I remember playing “Everyone had to get in the burlap sack,” when I was little.

    • Michael Ezra
      Michael Ezra
      January 13, 2010, 11:35 pm | # | Reply

      That’s nothing. My family was so into that game I was born in a burlap sack. I’ll never forget my shock and disorientation at seeing the sky, trees, streets and buildings for the first time when I entered kindergarten.

      • Carl-E
        Carl-E
        January 13, 2010, 11:44 pm | # | Reply

        Now that’s a sheltered upbringing!

  18. TraderInTown
    TraderInTown
    January 14, 2010, 7:29 am | # | Reply

    Ba-dump, Pish!

    I’d make a list of what we know about children and pirates but this strip is obsolete tommorrow so who cares?

  19. TraderInTown
    TraderInTown
    January 14, 2010, 2:25 pm | # | Reply

    At least we’re almost to figuring this whole In Medias Res line.

    “Homer doesn’t begin the Trojan War with Leda’s twin eggs: he always rushes toward the outcome, and he carries the listener along with him into the middle of things, just as if they were familiar.”
    — Horace

  20. Cleave Wright
    Cleave Wright
    January 14, 2010, 10:48 pm | # | Reply

    Wow…. just wow.

    I can imagine.

    “Hey kid, get in the sack and you’ll get a cool surprise.” Thus the ‘getting-kids-in-a-sack’ fetish was born. And it just got worse from there.

    • Michael Ezra
      Michael Ezra
      January 15, 2010, 11:02 am | # | Reply

      And thus Rule 36 is older than one might think.

  21. cjrayn
    cjrayn
    January 15, 2010, 11:17 am | # | Reply

    These kids look to be about 5-6 years of age. That age believes everything, unless they’ve been taught not to trust. Most of them from privileged homes haven’t. Also, this is the strangest kidnapping ever.

  22. SotiCoto
    SotiCoto
    June 20, 2013, 11:44 am | # | Reply

    Kids love hiding in dark places. That is basically a kid’s favourite thing.
    Also cats.

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Guilded Age is co-written by T Campbell & Flo Kahn, and illustrated by John Waltrip. Site design by Samantha Kyle. Fonts by Blambot.com.
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