Chapter 31 – Page 2
For the first time in Guilded Age history, I made the colossal mistake of posting the comic pages out of order. I have deleted and re-uploaded the pages accordingly.
Those of you who saw the comic before 8AM today saw tomorrow’s comic. If you’re still seeing what says “Page 3” in the bottom-left corner of the image file, just refresh the page and it will be fixed.
Hopefully this will all make a bit more sense now. Or at least as much sense as our sepia segments ever do, one supposes!
And to those who cry out in anguish that this is yet a “further complication” to the story, well… by week’s end, we believe you’ll find it’s rather more of an explanation.
NOW it makes sense! Thanks!
BTW, the alt text reminds me that for years I mis-heard that lyric as “wrapped up like a douche”. I thought it was amazing that the FCC would allow that to be played on the radio.
Every once in a while something slips through.
Pink Floyd’s “Money” uses the word “Bullshit” and I’ve never ever ever ever ever heard it censored.
I always heard this as “wrapped up like a douche” too, and I just figured it was the same kind of thing.
Remember how long it took for classic rock stations to notice that Jefferson Airplane’s”Volunteers” had the verse “Up against the wall, motherfucker.” Airplane submitted the lyrics to censors to read “Up against the wall, Fred.”
Ah, good ol’ Plato. What would college philosophy lectures be without you?
Something worth staying awake through?
Funny thing, though, as funky as dualism is, we’ve got the exact same problem with the ontological.
It doesn’t make sense to think that the supposed ontological keyboard I’m hammering this message into is somehow an ideal platonic keyboard, but it’s just as inaccessible to me as the platon idea is.
Look-ups: “Phaneron” and “Egocentric predicament”
And here, in video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L45Q1_psDqk
Yep, Plato basically described the idea of “The Matrix” before we had computers :))
You lose a fight and now you get to be lectured by a very stern, very naked man.
See the truth laid bare before you, and revel in its prominence.
In a purely Platonic way, of course.
Who has it worse: the guys chained up in the cave, or the guys behind that wall who have to move silly puppets around in front of the fire all the time?
Definitely the ones in chains. The one controlling the very world in which the chained ones see is in an absolute power state, akin to a god. The ability to completely influence the world of others in all things has immense power.
Now imagine yourself taking care of an ant farm, then having to go to work in the morning for minimum wage. Then realize that having the ability to completely influence the world of others may not be as amazing as you envisioned.
I’d rather control a tiny, fictional, or otherwise insignificant world than nothing at all.
I’d rather go out and do something meaningful, but each to their own.
What power is there in creating a world exclusively for a bunch of chained up prisoners?
Quite ironic…. we, those who got to follow the feed link before 8AM, like escaped slaves from the cave, got to see a glimpse not of the true form, but the near future himself! Unlike the spirit of the murdered cultist, we don’t hesitate to look deep in the gaze of the whispering darkness, to found that the destiny of the returned to the cave is death at hands of their formers comrades…. so, like good ol’ rebels, we always continue to fight for freedom… even in the name of Gastonia, Hurricane Software or the Order of Countless Limbs, through Dedalus’ labyrinth….
I have seen the light. I have seen the future. I have seen the next page.
now what?
Wait ’til Friday, I guess.
ok
I’m totally befuddled by your comment !
I guess I’ll have to wait till tomorrow to make any sense of it…
It certainly makes more sense with the pages in order.
Doesn’t everything?
Also, Hi, Neko!
You’d be surprised…after a manga binge, I once read an American comic cover to cover in the wrong direction.
It didn’t make sense, but rereading it in the right order didn’t, either. (Vertigo’s Deadman series from a couple years back. The one that didn’t have a single thing to do with Boston Brand.)
Your comment reminds me of an issue of the Midnighter that was completely paged backwards on purpose. If you read it in chronological order (that is, if you took the last page of your issue first and read towards the firs …. am I making any sense here ?), it was somewhat lame, but reading it in the intended (backwards order) it gave an interesting view of the Midnighter’s abilities…
(for all you non-fans of the Authority, Midnighter has implants that allow him to calculate millions of immediate possible futures so he can strategically always choose the best path)
Also…Hi!
I missed the whole thing!
Why am I getting the feeling that the writer is basing this webcomic on Caverns of Socrates?
Who can say?
I will say, however, that I am officially naming the gun shop owner in your avatar “Mr. Nuck Fuggets.”
Oh, please tag his appearances thusly.
Really enjoying the Greek segment.
On one hand some of us got to see two pages in one day, on the other we have to wait longer for a “new” page. ‘Tis both a blessing and a curse.
i loved philosophy 101 and i adored the Allegory of the Cave. it is my MOST FAVORED allegory.
Oh man. the alt text gave me a good hearty laugh.
I know that bad hair…
After all the comments about the lyrics I checked out the song and even knowing what it’s supposed to be I can still only hear “wrapped up like a douche”
Five theoretical figures? Three male, two female? One with Frigg’s hairstyle?
… Hmmm.
And one with a beard like Gravedust. Nice catch.
WOW, totally impressed !
Kudos to your powers of observation !
And fantastic Gravatar/Comment combo by the way…
Personally, I hope that this chapter means that the main conflict of this webcomic (H.R. vs. the Five) will finally be moving forward. Because for me, this is what “Guilded Age” has always been about–H.R. attempting to use the virtual world he created to become a God, but having to remove the Five from their digital slumber before he can do so. The rest of the storyline just doesn’t interest me anymore. I honestly don’t care anymore how the war with the Savage Races goes, or the relationships between the guild members, or the plots of secondary villains like the Iwatamis or the cult members. At the moment, the only characters I’m interested in are the increasingly ruthless and megalomanical H.R.; poor, deluded Carol, and Shanna (who is at the moment the only character actually trying to stop H.R.’s plans and move the story along). And until H.R. finally enters the game world and confronts the five, I’m just not going to be interested in what goes on in Arkerra. So I’m hoping that it finally happens soon.
And while I’m at it, can I say that Socrates’s story of the cave fits perfectly with this entire story so far? A group of ordinary people, trapped in another world, unable to get out, and perpetually forced to live out artificial lives that aren’t their own, under entirely false identities. And what’s worse? None of them even remember this. As far as they know, they’ve always been like this. None of them know that they’re living a lie. They don’t remember their real names, or occupations, or family and friends. And unless something is done to change this soon, they never will. (And I don’t care if they seem to be happy in Arkerra. It’s still a lie. It’s still not their real lives. It’s still not what they really are.)
And finally, I’m wondering how the Five will react once they finally remember all of this. Will Syrnj continue to adhere to her “mother’s” wishes once she realizes that that’s not really her mother? Will Byron be content to stay a follower once he recognizes that his beserker rage is artificially induced? Will Gravedust be believed when he tries to tell others of what he’s learned? It’s just fascinating to think about.
P.S. This is nothing personal against Campbell and Kahn or a reflection on their writing skills, this is just my personal opinon about “Guilded Age” so far.
All the answers to these questions, and more, over the course of the next…
24 chapters or so!
DECALOGUE, BABY!!!!
I think its totally cool that you read all these comments
I fuckin’ try, man.
Now imagine yourself into the Matrix and cry!
Funny, I’m the complete opposite. Another dull megalomaniac running another absurd gambit is just painfully boring, whereas the fantasy world was interesting to me.
Can you say, for an absolute fact, that you truly are “Alex Neeley” (or whatever you call your self) and that you are not just a character in a Real Life Sim? Or will you just accept that you are just a character and go with it until you get released*?
*’release’ in this case being death, whereupon you return to your ‘real’ form and reflect on what you have learnt?
Don’t try to mess with my head, friend. I know what’s real and what’s not. And please don’t try to compare real life with a webcomic.
Huh, at the same time Bittersweet Candy Bowl also messes up the update order. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
What have you been doing with talking dramacats? HM?
IIRC, Socrates was the one doing all the talking while Plato just listened and wrote what Socrates said down.
Aw, that means my comment vanished. Is it going to reappear with the next update, pray tell?
It shan’t. As I said: Deleted and re-uploaded.
It’s the only way to be sure.
We are but Play Dough in the hands of the gods….
Better than being the Play Dough in the diaper of a 2 year old (after going through said childs intestinal tract)
you can tell that the student is looking up at his teacher’s face (as he is talking). which means that the teacher must have an unimpressive penis. If the student where gay or straight, if the teacher had a large wang, then he’d probably be staring out it, out of horror or admiration, simply for being so close to the object of his admiration/ew-no-homo
You are forgetting the effects of desensitization over repeated casual exposure. (never a more appropriate use for the word exposure… )
They all wrestle naked. The sight of a penis is no more interesting to them than the sight of a nose.
Even if the guy’s leg muscles were strong enough for him to stand up with, he still wouldn’t be able to walk. As far as he knows, the only way to get around is hopping on one foot.