I must admit HR has been getting progressively creepier. However this page turns it up another notch. I don’t know how high the dial goes at this point. The shiny yellow eyes and the purple tie. and I just noticed that all of the angles that we see on the tie are vaguely hourglass-shaped, coincidence? You decide.
I wonder if the Tubed 5 are going to have a “Oh, crap!”/”There’s something wrong…” experience/reaction in the process of being linked to the virtual world of Arkerra.
So, tags for the “character” names – is this just to avoid having to reveal their names, or does this imply the sepia world people are gone, at least their personalities, and only their Arkerran avatars remain?
Worst-case scenario, it’s less “gone” and more “altered”. There are aspects of the personalities of each of the avatars that are clearly reflected by the players here, and even some hints of a possible relationship in the chemistry between Syr’nj’s player and Byron’s. While one could hope that Best’s player wasn’t as bad in SepiaWorld as he was in Arkerra, it does seem on the whole that the basic personalities have been retained.
It’s probably just so that we can refer back to every comic having to do with that character in their chronology. Rather than, for example, trying to flip back and forth between archives for both “Byron” & “Eric”.
I’ve got this weird Bioshock’s “would you kindly” feeling out of HR’s “I couldn’t have done this without you”.
I doubt it is exactly the same case, but at the very least HR’s words turn Carol to believe that she
has as part of it as HR. What appears as a compliment in acts that don’t appear *that* wrong, turns later into a manipulation in the situations where it is very much past Carols moral boundries. Because “couldn’t have done this without you” is very close to “would not have happened if not for you”, HR ensures that even if Carol would want to bail later on, she won’t. A take on the “foot in the door” method.
It’s funny, because at least for me so far it appeared that HR was genuinly glad to have carol by his side, and when things turned south he was simply in dire need of help and she was his only one to turn to. Now, though, it seems more and more like it was all along a very thought out and planned emotional manipulation – to make sure she would do as he says even when things will knowingly turn crazy.
Emotional abusers and manipulators are like that. They find a way to bind you to what they’re going to do; to use shame or guilt or fear of being caught and turn it from “I did this” to “this happened because of you, I was just the tool.”
In other words “look what you made me do”
While bras can be embellished by fashion, they were invented for function. It looks like she’s swinging around a basic, white bra, practical enough for the support it gives.
I would say Taco Bell perfected synthetic FAKE cheese (actually, I’d say that Velveeta did that, and Taco Bell was a firm second, but not th epoint). It is indeed good… but it is not actually CHEESE (“pasteurized processed cheese product”). I’d really like someone to perfect synthetic REAL cheese. That would be awesome.
I disbelieve. I’m a gamer. I’m married to a gamer. I hang out with gamers. Serious gamers do not have bodies like that. Unless they were chosen specifically for body type?
Might be part of it. And kind of ironic that the largest guy becomes the smallest guy without losing any of his “groundedness,” if I may put it like that.
Ditto. Gaming is a hobby, it might dictate a certain lifestyle for some, but there’s more different types of people than there are different types of games.
Philosophy according to Frigg: The party don’t start ’til the bra comes off!
O-bla-di, o-bla-da, what goes off? Bra!
+1 for a White Album reference :D
These guys are more into this MMO than anyone I’ve ever met.
Literally!
Yeah, they really immerse themselves
Seems like a small test group like this would be well screened for exactly that type of person.
I wonder if he could have done this without her…
I love “Payet”‘s stance in the first panel. “Ladieees! Who’s ready to party? Get those dollar bills ready!”
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought he looked like a very enthusiastic stripper.
Or part of the “YMCA!” line-up.
Yep yep!! Village People are here to stay!
So, what Byron is saying is that David Bowie is the nacho of singers?
That’s a pretty cheesy way of saying it, but who really has nachos if you don’t have cheese?
Notice where Syr’nj is looking.
I’m torn between the interpretation that she’s looking at Byron’s backsculature and the one where she’s checking out Best’s lute.
Her head appears to be turned too far upwards for the latter to be the case. Just an amusing background detail.
“Please get naked and jump into the tube, it’s for… science!”
I bet the mad scientists say that to all the tube girls…
Yeah, why huge tubes when a chip on the temple is enough ? (So it was in the French web serie Lost Levels)
If Dr. Horrible had realized this concept, he wouldn’t be working for the Evil League of Evil right now.
I must admit HR has been getting progressively creepier. However this page turns it up another notch. I don’t know how high the dial goes at this point. The shiny yellow eyes and the purple tie. and I just noticed that all of the angles that we see on the tie are vaguely hourglass-shaped, coincidence? You decide.
I wonder if the Tubed 5 are going to have a “Oh, crap!”/”There’s something wrong…” experience/reaction in the process of being linked to the virtual world of Arkerra.
So, tags for the “character” names – is this just to avoid having to reveal their names, or does this imply the sepia world people are gone, at least their personalities, and only their Arkerran avatars remain?
Worst-case scenario, it’s less “gone” and more “altered”. There are aspects of the personalities of each of the avatars that are clearly reflected by the players here, and even some hints of a possible relationship in the chemistry between Syr’nj’s player and Byron’s. While one could hope that Best’s player wasn’t as bad in SepiaWorld as he was in Arkerra, it does seem on the whole that the basic personalities have been retained.
It’s probably just so that we can refer back to every comic having to do with that character in their chronology. Rather than, for example, trying to flip back and forth between archives for both “Byron” & “Eric”.
I will have to make sure to use the term “elf rental service” when referring to the fantasy games I play and their parent companies from here forth.
What if it’s a fantasy game that doesn’t have elves?
Then there are elves in disguise in the game and it still applies.
Perfect avatar.
Looks like Carol is nauseated by all this. Back when she had a conscience.
Was wondering myself about the trash can, may be a nausea inducing migraine???
Oh, I think Carol still has a conscience…It’s only that she’s far less inclined to let it get in the way of what she’s doing anymore.
ok but do we get to see Gravedust topless?
I’ve got this weird Bioshock’s “would you kindly” feeling out of HR’s “I couldn’t have done this without you”.
I doubt it is exactly the same case, but at the very least HR’s words turn Carol to believe that she
has as part of it as HR. What appears as a compliment in acts that don’t appear *that* wrong, turns later into a manipulation in the situations where it is very much past Carols moral boundries. Because “couldn’t have done this without you” is very close to “would not have happened if not for you”, HR ensures that even if Carol would want to bail later on, she won’t. A take on the “foot in the door” method.
It’s funny, because at least for me so far it appeared that HR was genuinly glad to have carol by his side, and when things turned south he was simply in dire need of help and she was his only one to turn to. Now, though, it seems more and more like it was all along a very thought out and planned emotional manipulation – to make sure she would do as he says even when things will knowingly turn crazy.
Emotional abusers and manipulators are like that. They find a way to bind you to what they’re going to do; to use shame or guilt or fear of being caught and turn it from “I did this” to “this happened because of you, I was just the tool.”
In other words “look what you made me do”
“You can only find the awesome by daring the weird.”
—
such a great line.
Is it just me, but I’m more surprised that Frigg even wears a bra in the first place.
I think it’s a kind of glitch. There are loads of clues implying the sepia world is virtual
While bras can be embellished by fashion, they were invented for function. It looks like she’s swinging around a basic, white bra, practical enough for the support it gives.
It’s perhaps more surprising that it is Syr’nj the one that has a tattoo.
Nice catch – but why surprising? Syr’nj has the tattoos on Arkerra, too.
I would say Taco Bell perfected synthetic FAKE cheese (actually, I’d say that Velveeta did that, and Taco Bell was a firm second, but not th epoint). It is indeed good… but it is not actually CHEESE (“pasteurized processed cheese product”). I’d really like someone to perfect synthetic REAL cheese. That would be awesome.
Those diet meal plans have done that already and, trust me, it isn’t. Gah!
Invented != Perfected
Interpretations of the first panel:
#1: Carol is averting her gaze and getting a bin to put their clothes in.
#2: Carol is getting a migraine and grabs the nearest receptacle to puke in.
I disbelieve. I’m a gamer. I’m married to a gamer. I hang out with gamers. Serious gamers do not have bodies like that. Unless they were chosen specifically for body type?
Might be part of it. And kind of ironic that the largest guy becomes the smallest guy without losing any of his “groundedness,” if I may put it like that.
I’m a gamer, most of my friends are gamers. Our physiques are all over the place, just like this group.
Ditto. Gaming is a hobby, it might dictate a certain lifestyle for some, but there’s more different types of people than there are different types of games.
In the words of… me, nudity is the essence of adventure. And the base too.
Does anyone else think Best looks strangely like Kisuke Uruhara in the first panel?