Prolly not (not at White Chain, anyway). He DID want to dump the city on one worthy enough (powerful enough to protect it in his stead?). And now he has a “daughter” to leave it to.
Wow, no. White Chain was a great fighter and a decent person, but she has no experience ruling anything. The politics of the David family would tear her apart.
Sort of the point. She rolled into his kingdom claiming he was doing everything wrong and his justifications were hollow. Now he can go “Fine, show me how to do it better.”
I think the interesting direction to pursue this is White Chain is actually given the Celestial Empire and the Key and she has to figure out how to use boundless power to make a better world.
A bad feeling about the immortal hivemind brain-worm who detonates a host as a way to make an impressive sign-off? Who infests an unknown amount of the populace as a drug, totally replacing people.
Shitton of power, and plays the fool and punching bag.
She’s experiencing organic and biologically driven emotions for the first time in her life and there is a LOT to take in all at once, even without the massive cheering crowds.
For physical beings, emotions and the body are very much linked– the brain is a part of the body, after all, and emotions are also affected by things like hormones, even your gut microbes. (That’s a question right there– I wonder if White Chain’s body popped into existence with a fully formed gut microbiome? Or is she going to have to guzzle probiotics for a bit?)
I get weepy when my hormones are even just slightly out-of-whack. White Chain is experiencing *having* hormones for the first time ever, during an incredibly emotional moment with an emotional crowd around her– I’m surprised she’s not crying harder!
Actually White Chain is at least 18 years behind on her immunization schedule judging by her (evidently mature) appearance. Somebody get her to a doctor’s clinic asap.
Oh, and she probably doesn’t have any of the immunities that a mother would normally confer on her child during gestation and through breastfeeding… Yikes, don’t just get her clothes, get her a Hazmat suit!
Of course, maybe the White Flame that still (presumably) dwells within her makes her body inhospitable to bacteria and viruses? since the Black Flame teems with life, and the White Flame is sterile and unchanging. Which then comes back to the gut microbiome problem… (Come to think of it, angels can ingest things like tea with their stone vessels, yeah? How do they digest those things, I wonder?)
Humans respirin aliments be just controlled an slow an catalysed oxidation o thums chemicals tae be releasin /transferrin thae bonds’ energy. Fire do the same, but quicker an uncontrolsome, an energy mostsome lost. Angelflame mebbe gain energy o tea cos inside enclosed ashen-vessel. Angelflame mebbe not need, mebbe just affectation an habit; ingest not imply digest nor absorb.
She still has soul of the White Flame in her, and judging by that little halo-spark over her head, it probably still burns in her veins. This may prove to be a problem, but I doubt that any organic bacteria could survive such a proximity to Cold Atum
I think she had accidentally taken a speck of Dave’s essence – which he had honed nto a nigh-indestructable body, constantly reshaping itself into its owner’s image of themself. No vaccinations needed. Good point about the tea, though.
It might be the case that Solomon David has honed his body past the need for a microbiome… but I like to imagine that instead, he has simply populated himself with microbes that are as impossibly buff and powerful as he is. Everything he eats gets pulverized by perfect, very attractive bacteria.
Most likely cuz shes still experiencing her body. You can see her touching her cheek and still having a hard time breathing. Shes not looking at the crowd, shes looking at her hand, her arm. Solomon ripped her from her stupor and shes finally realizing her new form isnt a dream or trick but truly hers. A gift beyond words and even explanation. Shes overwhelmed by it. Tears flow not for joy or sorrow but because she can, because thats what her soul needs.
Standing in the middle of a ring naked in front of a giant crowd and being the center of its attention may have something to do with her tears too. I am not the kind of person to cry over things like that but I would still feel insecure and some people see such situations in their nightmares.
Not at all. He has shown that the system works. It is much like how the US pats itself on the back for having had peaceful transitions of power for over two centuries. His personal pride as a warrior is wounded. His greater pride as a kingagnanimoualy doing his civic duty is bolstered.
‘peaceful transitions of power for over two centuries’. Well, that might change in the near future. This comic is becoming eerily prophetic.
Also, can we take a moment to appreciate just how incredibly cute White Chain has become? Is anyone else thinking back through the story and seeing THIS face delivering all her lines under that stony mask?
Eh, no, not really. Both parties stand to lose everything if the government collapses, and the military has nothing to gain from a coup. The only wildcards are powerful individuals and foreign interference.
For the former, we’re already seeing anti-Trump pushback from Republicans, and he isn’t anywhere near Sulla-levels of tyranny. For the latter, well let’s just say Putin isn’t suicidal.
IMHO the main reason why both parties hate Trump is that he’s an outsider. He doesn’t belong to the whole netwiork of cronyism that pervades American politics, he paid for his own campaign so doesn’t owe the old boys network and so they don’t control him. Whatever else he may be, he stole the presidency from under their nose. Remember how the Republicans tried to find another candidate, ANY other candidate but him? They only accepted him when it was clear he was going to win. Damage control really. every indication is that Hillary Clinton was intended to win the last elections. Trump’s a wild card.
Trump has abided and encourged:
The assasination of an american citizen and reporter by saudi arabi
The payment of bounties to Taliban terrorists for killing of US service members by Russia.
Ignorance of basic quarantine measures in the middle of a global pandemic
These arnt partisan issues. These are basic american ideals he’s walking over.
On one hand, Trump is a fascist, not a Republican.
On the other hand, millions upon millions of Republicans have eagerly embraced him despite his flagrant incompetence and brazen stupidity. Unfortunately, it seems conservatives have been hungering for a tyrant for decades and will accept it in any form.
Fortunately, he’s also a lazy coward, so the horrible shit his supporters want him to do only seems to move forward when the donors, lobbyists, and extremists he’s packed his administration with can successfully push him to action, at the rate of about one incredibly shitty thing a week.
Sometimes accepting the shortcomings of shorthands you’ve come to trust gets harder when they are more obviously worthless in the face of a hostile and indifferent universe, rather than the contrary.
What makes you think Trump paid for his own campaign? He has a decades-long history of not paying bills, bankrupting companies (the man bankrupted a casino, for crying out loud, a casino), and lying about how wealthy he actually is (why do you think he’s still hiding his tax returns?). Why would his campaign be any different? Dude claims to be a billionaire, but he’s just not as competent or successful as actual billionaires.
Trump is not an Outsider. He’s well-connected, old money douchebag with a long history of lobbying the government.
Nobody has embraced kickbacks and Cronyism more than Trump since Tammany Hall.
Trump did not pay for his own campaign. He accepted donations, after pledging that he wouldn’t. He even accepted one specific donation without lawfully disclosing it, hence the airing of his dirty laundry regarding Stormy Daniels.
There are a lot on party hardliners who fought the rise of Trumpsim, but then changed their tune the moment it looked like he was going to win this time. There are a lot of other party elements who embraced Trump from the word go, either because they saw him as a useful idiot, or because they saw him as a possible conduit to the minds of his followers. These are generally the parts of the party that I’d been trying to convince myself were on the way out. I mean, David Duke? Really?
Trump’s not a wildcard. He’s the Fried Liver Attack. He’s a strong gambit that relies on surprise and misdirection. He’s good at outwitting laypeople who haven’t been his victims yet.
He’s a brand. He knows it. It’s his strength and his weakness. It’s all about milking the mere familiarity principle to be the most recognizable name on the slate. It’s about believing there’s no such thing as bad publicity. It’s a strong gambit, but I don’t think it’ll be enough, not now that people see it coming.
I pray I’m not just fooling myself. Damn this faith in humanity.
This is my first comment, but I’ve been skimming these comments for a while, and I think a lot of people have interpreted Solomon David being an adversary as meaning he’s also a villain. I don’t think that’s correct.
He’s certainly prideful, no question, and he’s a Tyrant in the sense that his Word is Law within his domain. But he’s not capricious. He’s not bloodthirsty or malicious; If you’re killed by him, it’s because you sought to fight him and declined to exercise the better part of valor when he offered it. Remember: When he ki rata’d the crowd of combatants into raspberry jam, he first offered them all the opportunity to walk away with fortune and power. And we’ve seen him offer mercy (he believed) to White Chain, and kindness to the man working on his palace.
I think he believes in what he does to preserve stability in his domain, and believes in the integrity and justice of his Word as Law.
That’s not to say I think he’s a good man. I’m not sure being a good man is an option in his position. But I don’t think he’s a bad man either. I don’t think he’s a villain.
Very insightful. And, might I add, even if he is a villain, he’s not the sort of villain that is easily boxed into simplistic paradigms of evil, not by a long shot. He is a complex character that resists being the hate sink lots of spectators seem to want him to be and are continually taken aback by his actions as a result.
That first panel… the spectators look particularly grotesque and mocking there. Is that how Gog-Agog sees them… or how they appear to Solomon David at that point? Is the thing he learned that his people never loved him like he thought, in fact, that they resent him and are ready to cheer on anyone who manages to take him down a peg? (And don’t forget how depressed his sons looked when he and White Chain were preparing for this duel. I wonder how they look now?)
SD looks tremendously unhappy, almost like a man who just discovered that his whole life was a lie.
I really don’t understand why people seems to project his image of Solomon being a absolute and total monster that do everything to fuel his ego and don’t care at all about the people, like if his Sin of Pride was the only character trait that defined him. None of the Demiurge so far has been like that and it’s surprising they assume Abbadon will suddenly write a one dimensional character. Solomon is complex, he is a antagonist but that dosn’t mean he is made of 100% pure unrefined evil. He as shown his motivation pretty clearly, hell he explained his reasoning in length to White Chain : Anything but Chaos. He know he does bad thing to promote order, he simply deem them necessary to avoid chaos…until a better age.
His apparent mercy and civility are somewhat part of the point the story makes about him though.
Yes, he spares people who know when to sit down and give in, but he’s also the one who organized this entire tournament to begin with.
Gog-Agog is only partially correct here. The entire tournament already was a spectacle, where Solomon would pit the very greatest fighters with a grudge against him against one another, select the very best, then violently and publicly kill them when they could never spill so much as a drop of his blood.
Or of course, he could show his magnanimity and offer them mercy, rewards for a fight well fought if they carried themselves with decorum and were willing to submit to him.
A spectacle of carrot and stick. Resist and act out, and you will be brutally destroyed, show excellence and you submission to the system and be greatly rewarded. Both aspects of the same system of oppression.
Just to say, I feel like Solomon’s mercy might be more pragmatic than kind. What he thinks of it himself is left somewhat open to interpretation for now.
I think we got it in his little talk during the super jump.
He sees himself as the good steward, as the natural heir to Zoss when shit was going smooth.
But, due to the formative event that won him his key (and probably the giant universe destroying war after Zoss let his whip hand slip) he see’s good stewardship as being STRICT FUCKING OBEDIENCE TO THE PATRIARCH.
This leads to the problems it always leads to.
If Motom was late stage capitalism, this dude is all lowercase benevolent all upper case DICTATORSHIP.
Solomon’s “kindness” to the workers was hypocrisy and showing off, since he put them in their terrible working conditions in the first place. If he really cared, the man who moves suns could do a lot more than give them the day off.
Similarly this whole tournament. If Solomon wanted a strong successor there are better options, it’s all just a flex. He’s probably sincere in his beliefs but he hasn’t been portrayed as a wise ruler thus far, I sort of doubt he’s going to do a sudden turn around now – if only because he’s been doing this thousands of years and is literally a representation of stagnation and pride.
It’s just Gog-Agog being Gog-Agog. As a creature of empathy, understanding and mimicry, it’s only natural of her – just as being overjoyed over genesis of the new form of life. What secrets she hopes to steal from the first flesh of the Cold Fire?
Gog-Agog, unusually for a monarch, appears to ascribe to a particular form of collectivist politics. The twist is that her ultimate goal is to seemingly BECOME the collective in its entirety.
Envy be the baseline ugly motivator fer communism/socialism? Most communists/socialists in the reals world is envious? Bit wobblebrainsy. Could as easily say most capitalists in the reals world is envious. Or most any kinds o socioconomic humans suffers it. Captalism do thrive on greed tho, also thrive on envy.
Gogs meant represent Envy suresome, copycat but to un point only, is also glutton in that the Great Devourer wants eat everyun, the ultimate consumer. Yond anythin, Gog be selfish. Is hardly advocatin socialism. Is yond even captalism’s greed an selfishness. An hasnae un care fer anyun else’s wellbein nare equalitism.
Gog want everything to be hers; Gog want everything to be her; Gog want everything! Societal constructs be damned.
Seems like Gog-Agog is looking at this as a “bread and circuses” thing – give the masses spectacles, give them what they think they want, and get your wormy tentacles deeper and deeper into them.
I think you overestimate the outcome of this fight. White Chain has earned one wish granted, and, unless she suddenly has designs on ruling one-seventh of the multiverse, Salami Dave remains the God Emperor of the Celestial Empire. As for rebellions occuring, assuming a wannabe warlord feels like the also can fight a man that was only grazed by a battle-hardened angel fighting at their best, throwing everything they had into what would have been a suicidal attack had she not spontaneously developed the ability to use the Black Art of Creation, then, yes, Salami Dave may have some rebellions to worry about.
yeah, who knows what White Chain was going to wish for if anything if she won and who know if that’s changed suddenly with her sudden enfleshment – uh, embodiment. meaterialization?
i think the consequence to Salami’s ego and the fact that the spark of rebellion that Allison passed to White Chain has now passed to the crowd is something apart from anything White Chain does now with her victory.
Solomon was forced to accept this outcome, of course. Any response denying the populace what they knew to be true would undermine whatever simulacra of respect he garnered from them over his reign. And while respect is no power in itself (it cannot prevent one’s head from being lopped off), it festers in the mind from birth to death.
In this moment, she doesn’t need clothes. She is naked and dignified. She escapes the dogma that a woman unclothed is disempowered; another victory to add to the list.
Nudity isn’t a taboo amongst angels. They go naked among each other all the time in the Void. She hasn’t had nudity being shameful indoctrinated into her by society.
“The stars got together and extinguished the moon and sun
And they reigned forever in the night sky they had won
The words assassinated the book
The kitchen cooked and ate the cook
Aw yeah! What is that certain je ne sais quoi?
Aw yeah! It’s a stone cold coup d’etat”
And lo’ a king -no matter how powerful- is still but a performer in the face of the whim of the people.
Also, are those Whie Chain tears out of joy and realization? Or is it fear and confusion? All of the above?
Whatever the truth, she definitely needs some comfy clothes and a long hug. Even though she’s got something she’s been wanting for what must be a very long time, secretly coveting, this must still be A LOT.
OH I think I get it, he didn’t bleed & is disappointed about it (“until a better age, I suppose”, indeed), but to the crowd it doesn’t ~matter~ that she didn’t technically get that drop of blood. They’re just here to see people get hurt and their king get punched.
All those centuries of diamond-enforced order, and people are still just hooting spectacle-craving bipeds.
“The Dictatorship of the Bureaucratic Economy cannot leave the exploited masses any significant margin of choice….
This dictatorship must be accompanied by permanent violence.
The imposed image of the good envelops in its spectacle the totality of what officially exists and is usually concentrated in one man who is the guarantee of totalitarian cohesion. Everyone must magically identify with this Absolute Celebrity – or disappear…
This Celebrity is Master of non-consumption and the heroic image which gives an acceptable meaning…
Wherever the Concentrated Spectacle rules, so does the police.”
~ Excerpts from ‘Society of the Spectacle’ by Guy Debord.
i have a bad feeling about this one yall
Does it have to do with your deadline or…
Anyways, only one? Try several. This one was ominous as fuck. 😱
mark my words, Solomon will be wanting revenge fore this humiliation
Humbling is teaching.
Be wise as a loser, and you will win next time.
Next time, Gadget. NEXT TIME.
Consider: the martial artist who has never lost must be exceptionally poor.
Prolly not (not at White Chain, anyway). He DID want to dump the city on one worthy enough (powerful enough to protect it in his stead?). And now he has a “daughter” to leave it to.
Wow, no. White Chain was a great fighter and a decent person, but she has no experience ruling anything. The politics of the David family would tear her apart.
Sort of the point. She rolled into his kingdom claiming he was doing everything wrong and his justifications were hollow. Now he can go “Fine, show me how to do it better.”
Agreed. I just hope he doesn’t go that route, cause with someone so responsible and dutiful as White Chain… well, that could be traumatic.
Revenge against Gog Agog.
I think the interesting direction to pursue this is White Chain is actually given the Celestial Empire and the Key and she has to figure out how to use boundless power to make a better world.
A bad feeling about the immortal hivemind brain-worm who detonates a host as a way to make an impressive sign-off? Who infests an unknown amount of the populace as a drug, totally replacing people.
Shitton of power, and plays the fool and punching bag.
Congratulations on your victory. I hope you survive it.
White Chain is crying. Why?
The second worst thing that can ever happen in your life is to not get what you really want. The worst thing that can happen is to get it.
“I was born, and breathing was hard.
I was born and just realized.
I was born, time and me were apart,
I was born, I would one day die.”
What’s that from, if I may ask?
Me, I think? I don’t have that good a memory, and I’m certain I wrote it on the fly.
It’s not bad, although I don’t think that’s why she was crying. It’s not like white chain is someone very afraid of dying.
Let me counter your poem with one of mine (translated from my language to english on the fly):
“…in deathless aeons we thread
blood of the past, the pain within,
as corrupted lies defile our rest,
as devils carve our soul in sin…”
Oh, it’s not fear, it’s awe. For an eternal creature, being mortal is a poignant thing – not necessarily a bad one.
Ask me how I know. Over drinks. Many, many drinks.
Bitchin’
She’s experiencing organic and biologically driven emotions for the first time in her life and there is a LOT to take in all at once, even without the massive cheering crowds.
Not crying my friend, but experiencing
Because she just proved to herself that she WILL never submit again.
Could also be because it’s raining
For physical beings, emotions and the body are very much linked– the brain is a part of the body, after all, and emotions are also affected by things like hormones, even your gut microbes. (That’s a question right there– I wonder if White Chain’s body popped into existence with a fully formed gut microbiome? Or is she going to have to guzzle probiotics for a bit?)
I get weepy when my hormones are even just slightly out-of-whack. White Chain is experiencing *having* hormones for the first time ever, during an incredibly emotional moment with an emotional crowd around her– I’m surprised she’s not crying harder!
Good point. Does this mean White Chain has to get that round of vaccinations babies and toddlers are supposed to get?
Actually White Chain is at least 18 years behind on her immunization schedule judging by her (evidently mature) appearance. Somebody get her to a doctor’s clinic asap.
Oh, and she probably doesn’t have any of the immunities that a mother would normally confer on her child during gestation and through breastfeeding… Yikes, don’t just get her clothes, get her a Hazmat suit!
Of course, maybe the White Flame that still (presumably) dwells within her makes her body inhospitable to bacteria and viruses? since the Black Flame teems with life, and the White Flame is sterile and unchanging. Which then comes back to the gut microbiome problem… (Come to think of it, angels can ingest things like tea with their stone vessels, yeah? How do they digest those things, I wonder?)
Humans respirin aliments be just controlled an slow an catalysed oxidation o thums chemicals tae be releasin /transferrin thae bonds’ energy. Fire do the same, but quicker an uncontrolsome, an energy mostsome lost. Angelflame mebbe gain energy o tea cos inside enclosed ashen-vessel. Angelflame mebbe not need, mebbe just affectation an habit; ingest not imply digest nor absorb.
She still has soul of the White Flame in her, and judging by that little halo-spark over her head, it probably still burns in her veins. This may prove to be a problem, but I doubt that any organic bacteria could survive such a proximity to Cold Atum
I think she had accidentally taken a speck of Dave’s essence – which he had honed nto a nigh-indestructable body, constantly reshaping itself into its owner’s image of themself. No vaccinations needed. Good point about the tea, though.
It might be the case that Solomon David has honed his body past the need for a microbiome… but I like to imagine that instead, he has simply populated himself with microbes that are as impossibly buff and powerful as he is. Everything he eats gets pulverized by perfect, very attractive bacteria.
So he doesn’t poop?
As befitting his ASTRINGENT ART (search the comment sections of these last few pages) level,
No.
He does not.
What is he full of, then?
Most likely cuz shes still experiencing her body. You can see her touching her cheek and still having a hard time breathing. Shes not looking at the crowd, shes looking at her hand, her arm. Solomon ripped her from her stupor and shes finally realizing her new form isnt a dream or trick but truly hers. A gift beyond words and even explanation. Shes overwhelmed by it. Tears flow not for joy or sorrow but because she can, because thats what her soul needs.
Hrmm… She’s just been cutting onions (or maybe it was ogres). Peeling away the layers can be painful.
Have you *smelled* Salami Dave?!
She weeps because she transitioned at a time not of her choosing. She is shocked.
She weeps because her transition has cost so much of what she once was.
She weeps because she’s failed at her big plan but now everybody says she’s won. It’s confusing and frustrating.
She weeps because the bastard demiurges, and the crowd, have made her culmination and sacrifice all about them.
How could she not weep?
Standing in the middle of a ring naked in front of a giant crowd and being the center of its attention may have something to do with her tears too. I am not the kind of person to cry over things like that but I would still feel insecure and some people see such situations in their nightmares.
How uncharacteristic of Sol. I await the twist.
Not at all. He has shown that the system works. It is much like how the US pats itself on the back for having had peaceful transitions of power for over two centuries. His personal pride as a warrior is wounded. His greater pride as a kingagnanimoualy doing his civic duty is bolstered.
King magnanimously
For the record I was down with ‘kingagnanimoualy” being a word.
Majestickingly
Regamicablily
Soverighteousness
Wait you mean that Soverighteousness is NOT a word already? How come?
Monaroyalemperority.
Imperialmighty.
Him despoticklish knows us. Asks us not.
Okay despotickly wins
I’m envisioning a pug-like king.
He rolls in front of me for tickles.
The punishment for a lack of tickles
is death.
Noblesse obligexpectations?
‘peaceful transitions of power for over two centuries’. Well, that might change in the near future. This comic is becoming eerily prophetic.
Also, can we take a moment to appreciate just how incredibly cute White Chain has become? Is anyone else thinking back through the story and seeing THIS face delivering all her lines under that stony mask?
Eh, no, not really. Both parties stand to lose everything if the government collapses, and the military has nothing to gain from a coup. The only wildcards are powerful individuals and foreign interference.
For the former, we’re already seeing anti-Trump pushback from Republicans, and he isn’t anywhere near Sulla-levels of tyranny. For the latter, well let’s just say Putin isn’t suicidal.
Now now, the imminent collapse of American society may be an utter fantasy, but it does make for a compelling narrative, does it not?
It’s the blaze of glory fallacy.
It feels better to lose dramatically and destroy everything you set out to defend, than to just cut your losses and walk away.
I’d like to get some Trumpsters around a poker table in November. Their nerves’ll be good and shot by then.
IMHO the main reason why both parties hate Trump is that he’s an outsider. He doesn’t belong to the whole netwiork of cronyism that pervades American politics, he paid for his own campaign so doesn’t owe the old boys network and so they don’t control him. Whatever else he may be, he stole the presidency from under their nose. Remember how the Republicans tried to find another candidate, ANY other candidate but him? They only accepted him when it was clear he was going to win. Damage control really. every indication is that Hillary Clinton was intended to win the last elections. Trump’s a wild card.
The worst thing about Trump is that he doesn’t understand. Anything. At all. He doesn’t even understand “the deal” he claims to be a master of.
Trump has abided and encourged:
The assasination of an american citizen and reporter by saudi arabi
The payment of bounties to Taliban terrorists for killing of US service members by Russia.
Ignorance of basic quarantine measures in the middle of a global pandemic
These arnt partisan issues. These are basic american ideals he’s walking over.
On one hand, Trump is a fascist, not a Republican.
On the other hand, millions upon millions of Republicans have eagerly embraced him despite his flagrant incompetence and brazen stupidity. Unfortunately, it seems conservatives have been hungering for a tyrant for decades and will accept it in any form.
Fortunately, he’s also a lazy coward, so the horrible shit his supporters want him to do only seems to move forward when the donors, lobbyists, and extremists he’s packed his administration with can successfully push him to action, at the rate of about one incredibly shitty thing a week.
Sometimes accepting the shortcomings of shorthands you’ve come to trust gets harder when they are more obviously worthless in the face of a hostile and indifferent universe, rather than the contrary.
Keep drinkin’ that coolaid boy, and don’t forget to throw away your mask!
We’re laughing at you.
Take it somewhere else.
What makes you think Trump paid for his own campaign? He has a decades-long history of not paying bills, bankrupting companies (the man bankrupted a casino, for crying out loud, a casino), and lying about how wealthy he actually is (why do you think he’s still hiding his tax returns?). Why would his campaign be any different? Dude claims to be a billionaire, but he’s just not as competent or successful as actual billionaires.
Every part of your “humble” opinion is wrong.
Trump is not an Outsider. He’s well-connected, old money douchebag with a long history of lobbying the government.
Nobody has embraced kickbacks and Cronyism more than Trump since Tammany Hall.
Trump did not pay for his own campaign. He accepted donations, after pledging that he wouldn’t. He even accepted one specific donation without lawfully disclosing it, hence the airing of his dirty laundry regarding Stormy Daniels.
There are a lot on party hardliners who fought the rise of Trumpsim, but then changed their tune the moment it looked like he was going to win this time. There are a lot of other party elements who embraced Trump from the word go, either because they saw him as a useful idiot, or because they saw him as a possible conduit to the minds of his followers. These are generally the parts of the party that I’d been trying to convince myself were on the way out. I mean, David Duke? Really?
Trump’s not a wildcard. He’s the Fried Liver Attack. He’s a strong gambit that relies on surprise and misdirection. He’s good at outwitting laypeople who haven’t been his victims yet.
He’s a brand. He knows it. It’s his strength and his weakness. It’s all about milking the mere familiarity principle to be the most recognizable name on the slate. It’s about believing there’s no such thing as bad publicity. It’s a strong gambit, but I don’t think it’ll be enough, not now that people see it coming.
I pray I’m not just fooling myself. Damn this faith in humanity.
joke’s on you white chain has been incredibly cute the whole time
That face has always been there. Although I do kinda miss the void-fro.
I agree! The hair-cloud-full-of-eyes is (was?) one of her most attractive features.
This is my first comment, but I’ve been skimming these comments for a while, and I think a lot of people have interpreted Solomon David being an adversary as meaning he’s also a villain. I don’t think that’s correct.
He’s certainly prideful, no question, and he’s a Tyrant in the sense that his Word is Law within his domain. But he’s not capricious. He’s not bloodthirsty or malicious; If you’re killed by him, it’s because you sought to fight him and declined to exercise the better part of valor when he offered it. Remember: When he ki rata’d the crowd of combatants into raspberry jam, he first offered them all the opportunity to walk away with fortune and power. And we’ve seen him offer mercy (he believed) to White Chain, and kindness to the man working on his palace.
I think he believes in what he does to preserve stability in his domain, and believes in the integrity and justice of his Word as Law.
That’s not to say I think he’s a good man. I’m not sure being a good man is an option in his position. But I don’t think he’s a bad man either. I don’t think he’s a villain.
Very insightful. And, might I add, even if he is a villain, he’s not the sort of villain that is easily boxed into simplistic paradigms of evil, not by a long shot. He is a complex character that resists being the hate sink lots of spectators seem to want him to be and are continually taken aback by his actions as a result.
That first panel… the spectators look particularly grotesque and mocking there. Is that how Gog-Agog sees them… or how they appear to Solomon David at that point? Is the thing he learned that his people never loved him like he thought, in fact, that they resent him and are ready to cheer on anyone who manages to take him down a peg? (And don’t forget how depressed his sons looked when he and White Chain were preparing for this duel. I wonder how they look now?)
SD looks tremendously unhappy, almost like a man who just discovered that his whole life was a lie.
I really don’t understand why people seems to project his image of Solomon being a absolute and total monster that do everything to fuel his ego and don’t care at all about the people, like if his Sin of Pride was the only character trait that defined him. None of the Demiurge so far has been like that and it’s surprising they assume Abbadon will suddenly write a one dimensional character. Solomon is complex, he is a antagonist but that dosn’t mean he is made of 100% pure unrefined evil. He as shown his motivation pretty clearly, hell he explained his reasoning in length to White Chain : Anything but Chaos. He know he does bad thing to promote order, he simply deem them necessary to avoid chaos…until a better age.
His apparent mercy and civility are somewhat part of the point the story makes about him though.
Yes, he spares people who know when to sit down and give in, but he’s also the one who organized this entire tournament to begin with.
Gog-Agog is only partially correct here. The entire tournament already was a spectacle, where Solomon would pit the very greatest fighters with a grudge against him against one another, select the very best, then violently and publicly kill them when they could never spill so much as a drop of his blood.
Or of course, he could show his magnanimity and offer them mercy, rewards for a fight well fought if they carried themselves with decorum and were willing to submit to him.
A spectacle of carrot and stick. Resist and act out, and you will be brutally destroyed, show excellence and you submission to the system and be greatly rewarded. Both aspects of the same system of oppression.
Just to say, I feel like Solomon’s mercy might be more pragmatic than kind. What he thinks of it himself is left somewhat open to interpretation for now.
I think we got it in his little talk during the super jump.
He sees himself as the good steward, as the natural heir to Zoss when shit was going smooth.
But, due to the formative event that won him his key (and probably the giant universe destroying war after Zoss let his whip hand slip) he see’s good stewardship as being STRICT FUCKING OBEDIENCE TO THE PATRIARCH.
This leads to the problems it always leads to.
If Motom was late stage capitalism, this dude is all lowercase benevolent all upper case DICTATORSHIP.
This, everything you just said is pretty much spot on.
Solomon’s “kindness” to the workers was hypocrisy and showing off, since he put them in their terrible working conditions in the first place. If he really cared, the man who moves suns could do a lot more than give them the day off.
Similarly this whole tournament. If Solomon wanted a strong successor there are better options, it’s all just a flex. He’s probably sincere in his beliefs but he hasn’t been portrayed as a wise ruler thus far, I sort of doubt he’s going to do a sudden turn around now – if only because he’s been doing this thousands of years and is literally a representation of stagnation and pride.
He is gonna retire and leave the mess to White Chain, he will take the opportunity to get out of dodge.
Gog and White Chain with the same pose. Could Gog have willed this body into existence? Or is it just a coincidence?
Coincidence.
One (Gog) is the tyrant resting its weight on its hand.
Other (Chain) is the child feeling the materiality of flesh.
Gog has been shown to mimic poses in her first appearance
Her thing is envy. She always imitates others. Heck, all she is, is a bunch of worms imitating humans (and other beings)!
It’s just Gog-Agog being Gog-Agog. As a creature of empathy, understanding and mimicry, it’s only natural of her – just as being overjoyed over genesis of the new form of life. What secrets she hopes to steal from the first flesh of the Cold Fire?
… A new era dawns. Hopefully it doesn’t collapse into bloodshed too quickly.
And suddenly i understand why Gog-Agog does what she does
Sounds like something a Gog-Agog would say.
Shhhh! We’re trying to be covert here.
Last Gog panel has some strong “Just according to keikaku” vibes.
As a side note, “keikaku” means “plan” in Japanese.
Thanks for the clarification.
I read this answer in the driest Jeremy Irons impersonation I am able to.
It fits.
ICEMONGER BTFO
Gog-Agog, unusually for a monarch, appears to ascribe to a particular form of collectivist politics. The twist is that her ultimate goal is to seemingly BECOME the collective in its entirety.
All shall be Gog, and Gog shall be all.
No, Gog is very much a capitalist. All gluttons are.
Fist, she’s not a gluton, but a copycat.
Second, she is Envy, like most communist/socialists are in the real world (the baseline ugly motivator, just as greed is to capitalism)
Envy be the baseline ugly motivator fer communism/socialism? Most communists/socialists in the reals world is envious? Bit wobblebrainsy. Could as easily say most capitalists in the reals world is envious. Or most any kinds o socioconomic humans suffers it. Captalism do thrive on greed tho, also thrive on envy.
Gogs meant represent Envy suresome, copycat but to un point only, is also glutton in that the Great Devourer wants eat everyun, the ultimate consumer. Yond anythin, Gog be selfish. Is hardly advocatin socialism. Is yond even captalism’s greed an selfishness. An hasnae un care fer anyun else’s wellbein nare equalitism.
Gog want everything to be hers; Gog want everything to be her; Gog want everything! Societal constructs be damned.
Greed and envy are the root of all evil. A system too naive to account for them will invariably be consumed by them.
Seems like Gog-Agog is looking at this as a “bread and circuses” thing – give the masses spectacles, give them what they think they want, and get your wormy tentacles deeper and deeper into them.
Bait for prey.
The devourer of worlds.
I was rather thinking that Gog-Agog rather IS The Mass, by definition. Is she actually talking about herself?
White Chain winning was everything I could have hoped for. But Solomon losing in every way that matters? A spectacle!
Ah, how pleasantly surprising. It seems not even the emperor is immune to admitting when he is beaten.
Now, give her some clothes, already.
Let Solomon take his time showing off the victor. It’s too nice a job to rush.
S T R E E T
W E A R
T I M E
She doesn’t really wear clothes to begin with though…
I must admit, I have -no- idea how this is going to go.
I also love this further reveal of Gog-Agog’s philosophy/plan: “Power to the People!*”
(*all people who are part of the biomass of Gog-Agog)
Ah fuck ah shit oh jeez holy fucking-
Gog-agog.
Demagogue.
Gog dammit.
Now you see. Be careful what you eat, drink, and where you set your feet. Gog will be eager for you to join the crowd now.
Well, this is going much better than expected.
…
RUN, WHITE CHAIN, RUN! THIS NEVER HAPPENS!
At last, tyranny is undone…
…next comes chaos, as every greedy fool tries to seize power for themselves. At least you remember some of my lessons, Fox.
I think you overestimate the outcome of this fight. White Chain has earned one wish granted, and, unless she suddenly has designs on ruling one-seventh of the multiverse, Salami Dave remains the God Emperor of the Celestial Empire. As for rebellions occuring, assuming a wannabe warlord feels like the also can fight a man that was only grazed by a battle-hardened angel fighting at their best, throwing everything they had into what would have been a suicidal attack had she not spontaneously developed the ability to use the Black Art of Creation, then, yes, Salami Dave may have some rebellions to worry about.
yeah, who knows what White Chain was going to wish for if anything if she won and who know if that’s changed suddenly with her sudden enfleshment – uh, embodiment. meaterialization?
i think the consequence to Salami’s ego and the fact that the spark of rebellion that Allison passed to White Chain has now passed to the crowd is something apart from anything White Chain does now with her victory.
oh boy oh boy oh boy oh –
Solomon David gets owned live on stream
he is going to loose subscriber
Poggers in chat for White chain.
Pog-Agogers, if you will
Best chain of comments ever.
He’s gonna get a temp ban for nudity
Bruh, Solomon was cringe in that fight.
Solomon was forced to accept this outcome, of course. Any response denying the populace what they knew to be true would undermine whatever simulacra of respect he garnered from them over his reign. And while respect is no power in itself (it cannot prevent one’s head from being lopped off), it festers in the mind from birth to death.
Respect may not stop a swinging blade, but it will stop many blades from being swung.
Expect more blades from now on, Solomon.
All hail the Queen!
I find it amusing, that Gog-Agog, the Mass of Worms, talks about the Mass. An obvious threat towards, uh, well, everyone, as I see it.
Gog-Agog’s very existence is a standing threat against all that lives.
Or perhaps “threat” is the wrong word. Instead, a *Promise*.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy Solomon is acknowledging White Chain and everything but…would it really kill ANYONE to give her some clothes first?
In this moment, she doesn’t need clothes. She is naked and dignified. She escapes the dogma that a woman unclothed is disempowered; another victory to add to the list.
Nudity isn’t a taboo amongst angels. They go naked among each other all the time in the Void. She hasn’t had nudity being shameful indoctrinated into her by society.
Yet, I can remember her first words to 10 Vigilant Gaze when banished to the Void: “Don’t look at me!”
Come to think of it, 6 Juggernaut Star also hides her feminine form in thorns.
Being seen as “abnormal” to other angels does seem to engender shame, or something very akin to shame, among angels.
Exactly. Angels are definitely not immune to feeling self-conscious about their appearances.
Worry not, Gog-Agog, all things pass in time. Your turn will come ’round soon enough.
When there is nothing left to eat, the only thing left is the gnashing of teeth.
Hungry Mungry approved this message.
I think about that poem a lot when Gog Agog shows up.
Comrade Sentient Mass of Worms Clown
The wealthy peasant farmers, what became of them?
They became food for worms.
I do not understand.
The worms collectivized and rose up from the fields, and the decomposer became the farmer.
Well, that was cutting out the middleman quickly.
“The stars got together and extinguished the moon and sun
And they reigned forever in the night sky they had won
The words assassinated the book
The kitchen cooked and ate the cook
Aw yeah! What is that certain je ne sais quoi?
Aw yeah! It’s a stone cold coup d’etat”
-They Might Be Giants, “Stone Cold coup d’etat”
PEPPERIDGE FARM REMEMBERS!
PEPPERIDGE FARM IS IMMORTAL!
And MOST of ALL _
Pepperidge Farm always wins.
This comment wins.
Hey… Looks like someone else figured out her sin.
Finally, Solomon has learned how to lose, without ever once being bested.
And lo’ a king -no matter how powerful- is still but a performer in the face of the whim of the people.
Also, are those Whie Chain tears out of joy and realization? Or is it fear and confusion? All of the above?
Whatever the truth, she definitely needs some comfy clothes and a long hug. Even though she’s got something she’s been wanting for what must be a very long time, secretly coveting, this must still be A LOT.
OH I think I get it, he didn’t bleed & is disappointed about it (“until a better age, I suppose”, indeed), but to the crowd it doesn’t ~matter~ that she didn’t technically get that drop of blood. They’re just here to see people get hurt and their king get punched.
All those centuries of diamond-enforced order, and people are still just hooting spectacle-craving bipeds.
Also plz someone check on white chain, I think she doesn’t know how to flap her throat meat to form air into words yet.
That must surely be the most cursed description of speech I’ve ever written.
I love it.
You need to check out the short story “ They’re Made Out of Meat”
And thus, the diamond is cracked.
And the most precious of children is born.
And the idiots applaud.
Hey, now, is this a party? This is A party, right? It looks party-worthy. My party sensors are not going off at all.
‘The Concentrated Spectacle’
“The Dictatorship of the Bureaucratic Economy cannot leave the exploited masses any significant margin of choice….
This dictatorship must be accompanied by permanent violence.
The imposed image of the good envelops in its spectacle the totality of what officially exists and is usually concentrated in one man who is the guarantee of totalitarian cohesion. Everyone must magically identify with this Absolute Celebrity – or disappear…
This Celebrity is Master of non-consumption and the heroic image which gives an acceptable meaning…
Wherever the Concentrated Spectacle rules, so does the police.”
~ Excerpts from ‘Society of the Spectacle’ by Guy Debord.
Wisdom! Mine! * copies *