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The thing about diamond: yes, it's the hardest (naturally occurring) substance, and it can cut practically anything else - but it's also quite brittle. And Allison is a hell of a blunt instrument
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Sep 19, 2018 21:57
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| # ? May 17, 2024 18:32 |
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Solomon's home has something interesting that none of the other realms or regions we've seen so far. Or rather it's the lack of seeing any overt usage of magic in the goings of the city. From the few shots we've had there isn't any aircrafts to be seen, which is odd because you'd think using warp gates or large crafts, or even some equivalent to a crane would be more efficient when building this massive structure. Instead it's being build by the efforts of it's own citizens, and soldiers no less not slaves as far as we know. Between the beginning of the chapter and now I get the idea that he truly does place a value on things earned through effort and maybe shortcuts like over-reliance on magic are things he wishes to avoid as they rely on singular powerful individuals and not the regular masses. Looking as Solomon, he's the only demiurge we've seen that has a council he seems to listen too (this instance nonwithstanding), and it's comprised of his own sons no less. Not only that but he's willing to hand over his title, but unlike Nadia he's not throwing it at the first person to come by, he's specifically sitting on the throne until someone can take it from him by spilling his blood and proving their worth. Of all the demiurges we've seen, his is the only realm I can imagine persisting after their removal. Nadia's court is held together by the threat of dying to her and her castle will crash without her power keeping it up. Yet those two suns will always burn bright until they run out of fuel. Incubus has a world of junkies and an army that he doesn't feel holds their full loyalty towards him, but these soldiers hold Solomon in high regard and it's safe to assume that feeling is more genuine than being a confidence junkie. Mammon is senile and aging, his accountants will probably lose their desire to continue the count once the dragon is put to sleep or worse; but this place has it's own infastructure, it's got a multitude of races present and engaging in trade. I can't see it collapsing overnight like the rest. Solomon has got a mountain of skeletons in his closet don't get me wrong. He didn't earn that crown by being a nice guy. But he's so far the closest thing to an actual "good" ruler we've gotten in this entire series. I can't wait to see what's in that pit so I can quickly reverse that previous sentence.
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Sep 19, 2018 22:07
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Planes and stuff are ugly, and he's definitely the type to keep an entire planet stuck in an eternal Mediterranean Bronze Age just because he likes the look better then try to justify riding a donkey as somehow morally superior to driving a car (he, personally, flies). He sure as poo poo doesn't "wish to avoid" magic when he's using it to show off for the guys whose time he's wasted sending them to build him a pyramid in the least practical way possible, but letting other people toss it around however they like the way they do in Throne would be messy and unsightly. He offers to abdicate to anyone who can beat him in single combat as a show of supremacy, because he makes the rules and commands all the power and can be absolutely confident nobody will actually take his kingdom from him under his terms. His regime will fall within minutes of his absence because it exists entirely to enforce an inch-deep aesthetic per the whims of its despot, and without him calling the shots all those Babylon cosplayers will realize they actually kinda like airplanes and heroin. he's like the fantasy self-image of all those Twitter nazis with Greek statue avatars oinking about their lost golden age of Western Civilization where there were no homosexuals or black people A Wizard of Goatse fucked around with this message at 23:05 on Sep 19, 2018 |
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Sep 19, 2018 22:36
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Solomon is a narcissist. He has a very particular fixation on what it means to be the Ultimate Good King Dad, and nobody (but Allison, it will probably turn out) has the ability to challenge that self-image. Incapable of true empathy, he uses his people as a prop in the elaborate roleplay he puts on for himself, performances of stern compassion, which is not ideal for their well-being, although it's true there are worse abuses that the subjects of the other demiurges are exposed to.
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Sep 19, 2018 22:41
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Didn't Solomon just win the Mr.Olympia contest?
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Sep 19, 2018 22:46
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Bongo Bill posted:Solomon is a narcissist. He has a very particular fixation on what it means to be the Ultimate Good King Dad, and nobody (but Allison, it will probably turn out) has the ability to challenge that self-image. Incapable of true empathy, he uses his people as a prop in the elaborate roleplay he puts on for himself, performances of stern compassion, which is not ideal for their well-being, although it's true there are worse abuses that the subjects of the other demiurges are exposed to. Of course he's a narcissist, he mentions how great and noble and necessary he is every other page he's in. How much of what we see is an act he's put on for himself is however 100% up for debate though. The lady in the streets who looked strained to see him, and the line that nobody would ever try and harm him are one thing because it implies that his presence used to be a discomfort to the people but they have come to accept it most likely because leaving isn't an option. But these soldiers hold him in what seems to be genuine reverence. Part of that is definitely because of his power, but that also speaks to how another side of this world views him. Another face is that of his sons who want to assume the throne but are all essentially forsaken because they have long since given up on overpowering their father and he won't budge on his own mandates. And don't forget he probably didn't create those suns of his own power. He says he put them there so at least 2 solar systems god royally hosed by losing the gravitational center, and heat source. I am not saying he's a nice guy, just that he's so far the most agreeable of the demi-urges and I legitimately thing he may also be setting up this society to function in his absence which has been on his mind for an untold amount of time so he can pursue his own philosophical ideals. A Wizard of Goatse posted:Planes and stuff are ugly, and he's definitely the type to keep an entire planet stuck in an eternal Mediterranean Bronze Age just because he likes the look better then try to justify riding a donkey as somehow morally superior to driving a car (he, personally, flies). He sure as poo poo doesn't "wish to avoid" magic when he's using it to show off for the guys whose time he's wasted sending them to build him a pyramid in the least practical way possible, but letting other people toss it around however they like the way they do in Throne would be messy and unsightly.
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Sep 19, 2018 23:08
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People hold Kim Jong Un in genuine reverence too, and he's a flabby nerd who's despoiled his country so he can, like, steal Japanese actresses he gets crushes on. Power attracts devotion, and Solomon spends an apparently tremendous amount of time engaged in theatrics to burnish his cult of personality. But unpack the scene just a little- what are those soldiers working on? What's it for? In what way does any of this - the choice of project or how it's done - serve their benefit or betterment? Do you think Solomon genuinely did not know how it was being built until now? And if he was really in it to groom or find a successor, couldn't he do that just as well in an open field or, hell, letting challengers come at him as they will and free up his people to meditate or build actually useful public works projects or get really really good at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, instead of using them up so he can gently caress up gladiators in a giant arena like Commodus? Now extrapolate to his whole empire, because the point of this scene is to showcase Solomon's MO. He's just all about engineering the world around him to reenact the broad strokes of a heroic myth without getting the point of what made those heroes brave or wise. Are his people better off born into a Disneyland built by and for one tourist and obliged to spend their lives dancing around in a Mickey Mouse suit on the off chance that he comes by looking for a photo op than they would be getting colonized under Mottom's imperial hegemony? Nyeeeh, they sure look happy; they better. A Wizard of Goatse fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Sep 20, 2018 |
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Sep 20, 2018 00:15
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A Wizard of Goatse posted:And if he was really in it to groom or find a successor, couldn't he do that just as well in an open field or, hell, letting challengers come at him as they will and free up his people to meditate or build actually useful public works projects or get really really good at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, instead of using them up so he can gently caress up gladiators in a giant arena like Commodus? It's worse than that, why doesn't he just reuse last year's arena?
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Sep 20, 2018 00:37
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Reminds me of that scene in DBZA where Cell keeps blowing up and rebuilding his arena because it's not quite perfect.
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Sep 20, 2018 00:54
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A Wizard of Goatse posted:But unpack the scene just a little- what are those soldiers working on? What's it for? In what way does any of this - the choice of project or how it's done - serve their benefit or betterment? Do you think Solomon genuinely did not know how it was being built until now? As for the Kim comparison. Solomon is cut like a diamond and even if it's just an act, looks to be performing the role of a leader far more competently than Kim Jong un. He also carved his own path and didn't just inherit it through blood, an idea he himself doesn't fully support. I don't think the comparison matches at this stage. quote:And if he was really in it to groom or find a successor, couldn't he do that just as well in an open field or, hell, letting challengers come at him as they will and free up his people to meditate or build actually useful public works projects or get really really good at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, instead of using them up so he can gently caress up gladiators in a giant arena like Commodus? quote:He's just all about engineering the world around him to reenact the broad strokes of a heroic myth without getting the point of what made those heroes brave or wise. As i've been arguing. His domain is so far the only one i can imagine persisting after his absence. Even if hes just going through thr motions i think that counts for something. quote:Nyeeeh, they sure look happy; they better.
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Sep 20, 2018 00:55
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I think he really, genuinely likes the abstract idea of fostering independence in his children and his people as a whole. He recognizes that that is the good and noble thing to do, and he dearly wants to be good and noble, and I think he also genuinely wants his people to thrive. Unfortunately, he's a very bad dad, metaphorically or literally. While he projects the image of himself as a flawless being, he's riddled with flaws such as anxiety which manifest as an obsessive need to maintain control. He's forever going through the surface motions of fostering independence without actually taking the vital step of giving up any of his control, but he's able to delude himself that this is a better state for his people to live in than if he actually just like, willed buildings into existence and allowed cars. When his children fail to live up to his impossible standards, he can blame them and use that as a justification for why everyone needs him to be their Big Daddy Diamond for just a little longer. Furthermore, while I doubt that all of his children over the millenia have actually been as disappointing as he acts, if they are all messed up the one common factor is him. So like, yeah, obviously he's a narcissist. I'm just laying this out because narcissism doesn't spring forth from nowhere, it's a maladaptive coping mechanism to severe internal stress and dysfunction. But because a narcissist admitting they feel messed up goes against the very core of the ingrained coping mechanism, it's very hard to break out of once it's set in. I don't think he does this whole song and dance because he needs to convince others he's great and flawless, I think he's doing it because he needs the reaction of others to convince himself, and it doesn't work, so he does it more. Like everyone's pointed out, he's making himself feel good by 'saving' one group of workers from overworking themselves, while presumably ignoring both all the other groups and not considering that the only reason people are getting hurt is because he refuses to build his ridiculous arena himself or just have a single arena built and maintained for much less material labor, to be reused. EDIT: Like I think his domain could survive without him and if so it's precisely because of the broad strokes he's set up but not committed to, but I also think the idea that his people don't actually need him terrifies him enough that he's unwilling to ever test it. He needs them. And if it couldn't survive it's probably because of the sheer ridiculous scale of it and the nepotism at the very core. There are strengths to his system but there's also crippling weaknesses and those crippling weaknesses directly reflect his personal blind spots and hero complex. PetraCore fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Sep 20, 2018 |
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Sep 20, 2018 01:00
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It's not a hell hole, it IS his arena, and the whole point is that the building of it is ugly and painful and marrs his illusion of perfect serenity.
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Sep 20, 2018 01:05
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I agree that Solomon David is going to be basically sympathetic and also basically terrible. I hope the Celestial Empire can de-imperialize into a less totalitarian civilization and I hope Solomon David's response to getting slapped down by Allison is going to end up constructive. I also hope Gog-Agog has Allison on for an interview. Speaking of which, so. One of the words is Blade, right? And Solomon here is Diamond, but this book is King of Swords. What do you want to bet Gog-Agog is Blade?
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Sep 20, 2018 01:20
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pseudorandom name posted:It's worse than that, why doesn't he just reuse last year's arena? Lol if you think an arena can survive a Solomon David fight.
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Sep 20, 2018 01:22
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PetraCore posted:It's not a hell hole, it IS his arena quote:and the whole point is that the building of it is ugly and painful and marrs his illusion of perfect serenity.
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Sep 20, 2018 01:24
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Grognan posted:Ki rata
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Sep 20, 2018 02:17
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Or your all over thinking it. By lifting one block so easily, he makes his citizenry (read: serfs) exert themselves ever so more. He doesnt care that they are ruining themselves and working their bodies to death, he knows that by exerting this smallest of efforts he will make his people work all the more harder to live up to his example. I am a living god, look how easy it is for me, and how I grace your with my presence and give you a day off. The minute he leaves they will go back to stripping the flesh off their own hands to live up to his ideal.
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Sep 20, 2018 02:46
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It's pretty hosed up that Solomon David outlawed the use of work gloves imo.
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Sep 20, 2018 03:07
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'I rule a seventh of creation and in all their vast reaches I have not yet seen anyone figure out a way to build things without half-killing themselves.'
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Sep 20, 2018 03:19
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Yeah, if he really cared he'd invent OSHA. I bet he knows all about cranes and machines but he thinks that manual labor builds strength and honour and poo poo BUT NOT TOO HARD GUYS
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Sep 20, 2018 03:57
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MikeJF posted:Yeah, if he really cared he'd invent OSHA. I like to think that they have all that but when they hear big daddy is coming around for inspection they hide it all and go 3000BC so Sol gets a chance to show off, "It's important that he feels he feels valuable and included"
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Sep 20, 2018 04:07
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i think the whole issue is from them working faster than daddy ordered. he wouldn't be showing off if they just worked at the correct pace
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Sep 20, 2018 04:24
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poo poo gently caress goddammnnnnmmnnnnn I binged the whole thing and caught up and now there's no more new comics. This is truly hell.
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Sep 20, 2018 04:24
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Well, if you had listened to city ordinance about not giving money to the dead, you'd have bus fare for getting out of hell.
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Sep 20, 2018 04:35
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Also I'm mad at myself that it took until I was falling asleep last night for me to get the joke that the sun literally never sets on Solomon David's empire.
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Sep 20, 2018 04:47
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I look forward to their catastrophic collision once they're not being micromanaged by Really Big Dad.
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Sep 20, 2018 05:07
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yall just assuming allison is even going to meet solomon in the first place i give equal odds that she and zaid end up facing each other midway through the tournament, both go "oh nice there you are, let's bounce" and make a mess or allison doesn't even go to the tournament, but the Pursuers gatecrash anyway
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Sep 20, 2018 05:08
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or nobody loving shows cuz this whole song and dance is only for a seventh and probably has A Reputation, while The Key is loving out there and practically up for grabs as far as all the fighty boys of the multiverse are concerned.
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Sep 20, 2018 05:14
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violent sex idiot posted:i think the whole issue is from them working faster than daddy ordered. he wouldn't be showing off if they just worked at the correct pace there is no correct pace to just be dragging a house-sized brick along the ground except for 'not doing that' Solomon's kumite is clearly coming up in the imminent future and his arena's only half-finished, there's no way he wasn't micromanaging the design and building process of what's basically a giant monument to himself he's having put up in his backyard; again, this is all 100% a product of him manufacturing this exact situation so he could do exactly this.
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Sep 20, 2018 05:23
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MikeJF posted:Yeah, if he really cared he'd invent OSHA.
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Sep 20, 2018 05:53
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Solomon's shtick is "Good is not perfect, get out of the way I'll do it myself". Anyone alive in his empire learnt to get out of his way.
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Sep 20, 2018 05:59
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I can see it going either way - either he set this whole thing up on purpose, or the structure of his empire is such that he can always come strolling along and do something godly.
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Sep 20, 2018 06:00
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alright now I caught up with the important thread bits im so happy that this comic is gay as gently caress
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Sep 20, 2018 06:12
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Brought To You By posted:Ok, cool. I mean He apparently beat the poo poo out of the previous owner to get his key, so it has to be possible for a not-demiurge to beat a demiurge.
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Sep 20, 2018 06:40
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Synthbuttrange posted:im so happy that this comic is gay as gently caress
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Sep 20, 2018 07:02
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Synthbuttrange posted:poo poo gently caress goddammnnnnmmnnnnn Don't worry, this is one of those web comics that is not only top quality but actually updates regularly barring unusual circumstances. Hell I liked it so much I bought the physical books even though it's all online already.
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Sep 20, 2018 08:40
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I bought the digital versions of the physical books. wait gently caress
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Sep 20, 2018 10:08
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Shadowlyger posted:I mean All of the demiurges were incredibly strong before they got their keys. The key is just a tool, really. The comic has been big on the indomitable power of will and want. (Remember Meti manifested a halo without a key.) Rigged Death Trap fucked around with this message at 10:25 on Sep 20, 2018 |
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Sep 20, 2018 10:11
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Rigged Death Trap posted:(Remember Meti manifested a halo without a key.) That's the power of good noodles.
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Sep 20, 2018 10:26
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| # ? May 17, 2024 18:32 |
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Shadowlyger posted:I mean Both he and his rival (The Vlad Tepes-lookalike) were already demiurges, IIRC the seven keys are a consolidation of the 777,777 keys that already existed, each for one universe
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Sep 20, 2018 11:14
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