Probably rubber walls. Remembering back to HR’s talk about the cavern nobody wants to hear something that disrupts what they think the truth is. As soon as they hear her story they’ll declare her insane.
Could be a “weirdness censor” like in webcomic Skin Horse, where people just block out what they can’t understand. In this situation, they’d probably just come up with their own explanations.
I’ve always been a bit torn on how I feel about Carol, but honestly the last pages have really made me feel bad for her. She was totally indoctrinated by her adoration (Love?) of HR, but managed to break free from it to do the right thing in the end. Her reward? Being the fall man…
She’s not… innocent. She hired a hitman, who killed one of the scooby gang. THAT earns her a stay in the big house. If she really thought the 5 were merely trapped, and salvagable, murdering to keep their vacation a secret would be a BIT of a problem if they could be restored to full health in the world. It’s a bad escalation when the absolute worst would be “Hey, they signed the releases for our questionable medical testing so we didn’t kidnap or coerce anybody. It just hasn’t gone as well as we’d like and we tried to keep mum to avoid stockholder panic. So… real-world medical experts, help?”
But it’s a totally sensible move for someone who is trying to cover up 5 corpses in the basement. A few more doesn’t make you *less* damned. And she has, increasingly over the past couple chapters, been realizing that she is truly damned. And having someone with a faint shred of a clue what vital signs look like tell her what’s up? To prove she’s been lied to? And then to get confirmation from the cult leader himself as he monologs through his trope egomania? Clearly evil AND destroying the world?
Fek. Redemption doesn’t mean you go home happy. It doesn’t mean you go home. It means you clean up the enormous mess you made. It means you pay the bill. Because you had to earn a much worse fate to have redemption be an option. This shitty, painful, never-getting-out-of-jail result *is* the reward. And it was earned. Not just through the villainy. Not just because of the heroic act. But because paying the bill is part of it. The prize isn’t freedom, it’s being able to live with yourself and what you’ve done, and still being human.
Don’t take that away from her, or lessen what she’s getting back. :)
Oh, I am no way trying to lessen it, I just sympathize, even if I don’t necessarily think it’s unjustly deserved. She is most definitely on the ‘villain’ side overall, even if she realized “HEY MAYBE I’M ACTUALLY NOT THE BEST PERSON” overall, to put it succinctly.
To be honest that’s probably the kinder of the two choices. How do you think people would react knowing that she was a party to Necromancy and Black Magic? a Rubber Room or Torches and Pitchforks, I think out of all the options that could happen to her, an insane asylum would be the kindest option, especially considering I think she does need genuine Counseling through all the bullcrap she’s been through. (Do realize the only reason Xan and Shanna snuck up on Carol was because she Drank herself to sleep)
Starbursts? Sounds like astigmatism.
When I was a kid, I thought everybody saw starbursts halos around streetlights and headlights etc. But it turns out not. Lucky me, it’s really pretty.
Those would TOTALLY be accessory to manslaughter. Honestly, she’s not done all too much wrong- even her killing HR is technically in self-defense, and the rest were either situations that she was unaware of, or she was being coerced. About the only thing she’s really guilty of is holding the 5 without telling anyone (which… depending on the contracts they signed…) and not reporting on HR when she realized that things were going wrong (namely, uh, body parts and murdered coworkers.)
Oh, wait, the Mercenary. Forgot about him. Yeah.
Still, if the courts actually believed her, she might get off easily. Now, they’ll probably think her insane, so who knows what’s going to happen there.
Unfortunately, it might mean that she gets forced to take antipsychotics, which would ACTUALLY drive her insane…
Being an accessory means helping the principal avoid justice after it happens. In the case of the manslaughter of the Five, she’s not doing that – they only just died, as far as anyone knows, and she’s reported it within minutes. She’s joint principal for one murder (Kaye, whom she hired a hitman to silence), and an accessory to another (Ferris, by disposing of the body – an opportunistic kill, so she could not have known before it happened). The Five may be a case of manslaughter (I’d argue for misadventure), but if she’s guilty, it’s as principal, not accessory.
Killing HR is self-defence… IF they believe her story.
(IANAL so take all this with an appropriately sized grain of salt)
<> I have been thinking about Wednesday’s strip. It’s haunting me. I keep staring and reading the dialogue again and again. There was discussion whether the explosion blew the flesh off the bones of the five. I argued otherwise. The arguments that the explosion decomposed the corpses at the instance of HR’s collapse made sense to me. but if so, How come HR’s corpse which was at the center of the blast pretty much intact. He was floating around in the soup for less time and perhaps was alive the whole time until the bullet hit the bone. Either way I will miss these forums and the perilous installments thrice weekly. I will miss the yearly swimsuit issue (of course) Ask an adventurer and Axemas where welcome relief from the suspense. What a ride! I amgoing to hit the road for a while and do not know when I will be able to comment again so SO LONG EVERYBODY.
the game may not be over, usually authors put a FIN or THE END if the comic is done. or announcement of Hiatus or of a new work in progress with a start date
Puck: A Midsummer’s Night Dream
“If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend….”
Thank you Campbell, Kahn and Waltrips for a great ride. I look forward to hearing about what you will do next and when/where I can enjoy it. Y’all rock!
No, thank you! You given us more than just a webcomic, you’ve given us a wonderful and amazing story with artistic detail to match it’s quality! Some of us might not have the money to show our support and adoration for the five star work you’ve given us, but it’s support that won’t diminish or leave, even if you go elsewhere. I’m sure me and ToeCutter aren’t the only ones who are looking forward to your future endeavors, but you probably already know that because of the enormous number of readers, commenters, and donors.
The last page and this page do make for a pretty solid ending to the webcomic given the twists and turns it’s taken along the way, but looking forward to see what the final chapter brings.
Dadelus thought they were still alive and was actively trying to get them out. There is no reason for him to be lying here as he’s the only one in the room.
I know we now know those aren’t brain readings, but then, what are they? And what would cause a spike in them other than some sort of activity from the five?
Probably rubber walls. Remembering back to HR’s talk about the cavern nobody wants to hear something that disrupts what they think the truth is. As soon as they hear her story they’ll declare her insane.
Could be a “weirdness censor” like in webcomic Skin Horse, where people just block out what they can’t understand. In this situation, they’d probably just come up with their own explanations.
“This doesn’t look like anything to me.”
I’ve always been a bit torn on how I feel about Carol, but honestly the last pages have really made me feel bad for her. She was totally indoctrinated by her adoration (Love?) of HR, but managed to break free from it to do the right thing in the end. Her reward? Being the fall man…
Her reward is ending the madness.
She’s not… innocent. She hired a hitman, who killed one of the scooby gang. THAT earns her a stay in the big house. If she really thought the 5 were merely trapped, and salvagable, murdering to keep their vacation a secret would be a BIT of a problem if they could be restored to full health in the world. It’s a bad escalation when the absolute worst would be “Hey, they signed the releases for our questionable medical testing so we didn’t kidnap or coerce anybody. It just hasn’t gone as well as we’d like and we tried to keep mum to avoid stockholder panic. So… real-world medical experts, help?”
But it’s a totally sensible move for someone who is trying to cover up 5 corpses in the basement. A few more doesn’t make you *less* damned. And she has, increasingly over the past couple chapters, been realizing that she is truly damned. And having someone with a faint shred of a clue what vital signs look like tell her what’s up? To prove she’s been lied to? And then to get confirmation from the cult leader himself as he monologs through his trope egomania? Clearly evil AND destroying the world?
Fek. Redemption doesn’t mean you go home happy. It doesn’t mean you go home. It means you clean up the enormous mess you made. It means you pay the bill. Because you had to earn a much worse fate to have redemption be an option. This shitty, painful, never-getting-out-of-jail result *is* the reward. And it was earned. Not just through the villainy. Not just because of the heroic act. But because paying the bill is part of it. The prize isn’t freedom, it’s being able to live with yourself and what you’ve done, and still being human.
Don’t take that away from her, or lessen what she’s getting back. :)
Wow. wow. I love your third paragraph here. Redemption is closing your tab and paying the bill. Eloquent.
Oh, I am no way trying to lessen it, I just sympathize, even if I don’t necessarily think it’s unjustly deserved. She is most definitely on the ‘villain’ side overall, even if she realized “HEY MAYBE I’M ACTUALLY NOT THE BEST PERSON” overall, to put it succinctly.
To be honest that’s probably the kinder of the two choices. How do you think people would react knowing that she was a party to Necromancy and Black Magic? a Rubber Room or Torches and Pitchforks, I think out of all the options that could happen to her, an insane asylum would be the kindest option, especially considering I think she does need genuine Counseling through all the bullcrap she’s been through. (Do realize the only reason Xan and Shanna snuck up on Carol was because she Drank herself to sleep)
One last Plato’s Cave reference. And, scene.
And it’s as foggy as ever: notice the halo around the floodlights and headlights.
When your eyesight gets a little worse, that just happens for all lights at night.
And then when you get glasses, they turn them into little starbursts.
Starbursts? Sounds like astigmatism.
When I was a kid, I thought everybody saw starbursts halos around streetlights and headlights etc. But it turns out not. Lucky me, it’s really pretty.
I suppose this is more heartwarming than Carol committing 2 more murders.
Technically, she’s accessory to at least five more.
“Couldn’t have done it without you, Carol.”
Those could be argued as manslaughter. She believed the 5 were still alive, but trapped. Their deaths were unexpected and not intentional.
Those would TOTALLY be accessory to manslaughter. Honestly, she’s not done all too much wrong- even her killing HR is technically in self-defense, and the rest were either situations that she was unaware of, or she was being coerced. About the only thing she’s really guilty of is holding the 5 without telling anyone (which… depending on the contracts they signed…) and not reporting on HR when she realized that things were going wrong (namely, uh, body parts and murdered coworkers.)
Oh, wait, the Mercenary. Forgot about him. Yeah.
Still, if the courts actually believed her, she might get off easily. Now, they’ll probably think her insane, so who knows what’s going to happen there.
Unfortunately, it might mean that she gets forced to take antipsychotics, which would ACTUALLY drive her insane…
Being an accessory means helping the principal avoid justice after it happens. In the case of the manslaughter of the Five, she’s not doing that – they only just died, as far as anyone knows, and she’s reported it within minutes. She’s joint principal for one murder (Kaye, whom she hired a hitman to silence), and an accessory to another (Ferris, by disposing of the body – an opportunistic kill, so she could not have known before it happened). The Five may be a case of manslaughter (I’d argue for misadventure), but if she’s guilty, it’s as principal, not accessory.
Killing HR is self-defence… IF they believe her story.
(IANAL so take all this with an appropriately sized grain of salt)
Oh right, also multiple counts of attempted murder via JJ. Let’s not forget that.
Not sure what her position is re police killed by JJ when he rampaged. They weren’t part of his job.
I’m not a fancy highfalutin city lawyer, But…
DENY DENY DENY
<> I have been thinking about Wednesday’s strip. It’s haunting me. I keep staring and reading the dialogue again and again. There was discussion whether the explosion blew the flesh off the bones of the five. I argued otherwise. The arguments that the explosion decomposed the corpses at the instance of HR’s collapse made sense to me. but if so, How come HR’s corpse which was at the center of the blast pretty much intact. He was floating around in the soup for less time and perhaps was alive the whole time until the bullet hit the bone. Either way I will miss these forums and the perilous installments thrice weekly. I will miss the yearly swimsuit issue (of course) Ask an adventurer and Axemas where welcome relief from the suspense. What a ride! I amgoing to hit the road for a while and do not know when I will be able to comment again so SO LONG EVERYBODY.
Safe journey.
Safe journeys. You know, I used to venture out just like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee.
Not good-bye, but good journey. For the end of one journey is the beginning of another.
May your eyrie receive you at your journey’s end.
There’s a whole other chapter still to go.
(GAME OVER)
just needs final closing of sepia world and closing of arkerra (assuming it wasnt destroyed when servers were plugged off)
the game may not be over, usually authors put a FIN or THE END if the comic is done. or announcement of Hiatus or of a new work in progress with a start date
there will probably be more next week
Of course there will – even if we don’t see any more on Sepia World, there’s still the Arkherran part of the denouement to do.
Given that the first page of Chapter 49 intro’d it as the penultimate (2nd to last) chapter, there’s going to be a chapter 50 to look forward to.
Puck: A Midsummer’s Night Dream
“If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumbered here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
If you pardon, we will mend….”
Wells quoted, Talewinds. :)
*Sniff* (covers face, turning away)
Hand me a tissue, wouldja please?
Thank you Campbell, Kahn and Waltrips for a great ride. I look forward to hearing about what you will do next and when/where I can enjoy it. Y’all rock!
Don’t leave, yet! Still got one chapter to go. :)
Thank you!
No, thank you! You given us more than just a webcomic, you’ve given us a wonderful and amazing story with artistic detail to match it’s quality! Some of us might not have the money to show our support and adoration for the five star work you’ve given us, but it’s support that won’t diminish or leave, even if you go elsewhere. I’m sure me and ToeCutter aren’t the only ones who are looking forward to your future endeavors, but you probably already know that because of the enormous number of readers, commenters, and donors.
Hehe, a hurricane outside Hurricane studios.
The last page and this page do make for a pretty solid ending to the webcomic given the twists and turns it’s taken along the way, but looking forward to see what the final chapter brings.
This is a little surreal given what’s happening in the Boston and New York right now, weather-wise.
“We’ll always have shadows.”
One hell of a storm.
You might even call it a hurricane.
So paraphrasing…
Shanna : “If I see you again…”
Carol: “You won’t. There’s nothing more to see.”
A bit of a problem for those who think the five have been dead a long time.
http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-9-page-22/
Dadelus thought they were still alive and was actively trying to get them out. There is no reason for him to be lying here as he’s the only one in the room.
Also here: http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-10-page-13/
I know we now know those aren’t brain readings, but then, what are they? And what would cause a spike in them other than some sort of activity from the five?
However, a few pages further on, they do seem to indicate there is no brain activity anymore. So I don’t know.
Err, not a few pages further on, a few pages back, here: http://guildedage.net/comic/chapter-49-page-8/
Thanks a lot of of question and answer