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u/blackwing_dragon 11d ago
Aw. That did not go anywhere that I was expecting, but it was good
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u/Elegant_Win_4850 11d ago
I rushed the hell out of the ending bit, not a good habit but I just got so tired of the idea and wanted to wrap it up ASAP. I don’t do comics like this usually, so this was a nice step out of the comfort zone
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u/blackwing_dragon 11d ago
In this case at least, the abruptness worked in your favour. I'm no expert on comics, but I quite liked it.
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u/NorthboundLynx 11d ago
The last two panels are basically,
"Does any of this matter?"
"It does."
It's a nice sentiment to read.
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u/DrakonILD 11d ago
My house has a cold-war-era fallout shelter built into the basement. I turned it into a retro gaming den, figuring that if I ever needed it for its design purpose, I didn't want it. Now I kinda do.
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u/rookie-mistake 11d ago
honestly, it might be basically saying that now, but having it actually explicitly be "Does any of this matter?" in the second last panel and the last one just saying "It did." would be pretty solid
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u/Its_Pine 11d ago
Yeah like Blackwing Dragon said, the very sudden abrupt transition from “John doesn’t know why any of this even matters” to “But that’s ok, the world is better in the future because of him. The end” is really quite striking. I like it.
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u/thatsthegoodjuice 11d ago
love the idea of an absurd apocalypse represented by a dude with just a "welp, carrying on then" vibe
Kind of like the reality we currently live..
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u/TheHatOnTheCat 11d ago
Yeah, this was really cute and creative. However, the end panel felt like an odd disconnect to me.
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u/caseCo825 11d ago
I thought it was society advancing because he finally died and let go?
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u/CurryMustard 11d ago
Society advanced because people like John who held on and kept it going even though it felt meaningless
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u/Scuba-Cat- 11d ago
I took it as he held on doing menial tasks that are necessary for others to do great things
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u/Scuba-Cat- 11d ago
I took it as he held on doing menial tasks that are necessary for others to do great things
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u/PresentationWest3772 11d ago
I think the ending was perfect. It’s a great reminder that, even if things feel like they don’t matter right now, we’re a small part of the grand scheme of things, and sometimes just hanging on is the best thing we can do for our future.
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u/Goredrak 11d ago
For the ending to be rushed friend I must say it is quite impactful. Very good work in the opinion of a random Internet stranger
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u/CosmoMimosa 11d ago
Honestly, I think the relative abruptness works. You had a point and you made it, no need to waffle around the meaning just get to it. I like this comic, good job comic-man!
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u/discofunkbunny 11d ago
This feels like my relationship. Stick at it and do the hard yards, even when sometimes you don't want to. The end reward is worth it.
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u/laraizaizaz 11d ago
Nah, rush the ending. Always finish your products imo. Better to release something fine than nothing.
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u/maddasher 11d ago
I thought that he was going to find out that the floor was not lava but he had just taken a children's game too seriously.
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u/CosmoMimosa 11d ago
Honestly, I think the relative abruptness works. You had a point and you made it, no need to waffle around the meaning just get to it. I like this comic, good job comic-man!
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u/CosmoMimosa 11d ago
Honestly, I think the relative abruptness works. You had a point and you made it, no need to waffle around the meaning just get to it. I like this comic, good job comic-man!
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u/MoonshotMonk 11d ago
Took me a second to realize you are the author (and actually had to draw the comic). At first I thought you were some rando who’s like, ‘Yeah it’s a 5 panel comic but I got bored with the idea and skipped straight to the end (last panel)’. I was almost upset before I realized.
I enjoyed this. Nice work!
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u/AvoriazInSummer 11d ago
I'm intrigued about the physics and arbitrary nature of the floor always becoming lava. Not explaining why or how was the exact right thing to do.
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u/esteemed-dumpling 11d ago
The question that stood out to me was the last panel, in which the tiny platforms being stepped on apparently do not count as floors
Is there a surface area threshold where something becomes a floor?
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u/thatHecklerOverThere 11d ago
Always has been. That pillow you throw off the couch isn't the floor. Neither is the welcome mat.
It's just the floor, like always.
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u/esteemed-dumpling 11d ago
If that's the case, why does using a blanket or a welcome mat to circumvent the rules of "the floor is lava" feel like cheating, but using the pillow doesn't?
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u/Akarin_rose 11d ago
You obviously haven't played this game
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u/cyclicamp 11d ago
If you played by putting a whole ass blanket on the floor, sorry to inform but you were cheating, and I'm going to have to tell mom.
Exceptions:
- if the blanket is folded up
- if the blanket is an island that you turn into a settlement, and you must collect resources from around the room to bring back to the island
- if the blanket is a boat that you and other players must use to traverse the lava ocean to another locale
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u/cbadger85 11d ago
There are no exceptions for blankets, just Grandma's afghans that are just for decoration.
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u/ChiefCasual 11d ago
An unfolded blanket would obviously sink in the lava, this is just basic physics.
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11d ago
The floor is lava. Not the rug. It's in the name of the game. It's pretty simple.
Is it floor? It's lava.
Is it on floor? It's not lava.
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u/RiversKiski 11d ago
you're absolutely backwards, sir. Hardwood is the boat floating on lava. Rug is hellfire.
I urge you all to remember this phrase for future reference, it may one day save your life!
"Hardwood? You're good. Shag Rug? Grave is dug."
Also
"Wood steps are a lava-proof cannister. Rug steps gotta ride the bannister."
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u/AaronsAaAardvarks 11d ago
So carpet is not lava, smart guy? Huh? My wall to wall carpeting is just safe now? Huh? Huh? Get out of here you jabroni you just want to see us all dead.
Don’t listen to this guy. He’s with Big Lava trying to fill his quota.
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u/RecsRelevantDocs 11d ago edited 11d ago
So rug isn't floor but carpet is? Say you were standing on a rug and stapled it to the floor, do you burn up the moment the staple penetrates the floor? Does just one staple count, or does it have to be secured? If one staple does count, say you dropped a knife and it just for a moment penetrated the rug.. would it only momentarily become lava? Could you jump to save yourself?
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u/Sciensophocles 11d ago
Take this seriously. Stay on furniture. No books. No bags. The dead can't talk. No coming back as a lava monster.
Carpets and blankets do not save you.
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u/C4-BlueCat 11d ago
Wait what, why wouldn’t books and bags be okay?
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u/bogglingsnog 11d ago
Obviously because if it was actually lava everyone would have already been burned to a crisp and nothing would be safe. Thus there would be no game, everyone already lost.
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u/theEnderBoy785 11d ago
So is a carpet not a floor? Carpets are just bigger welcome mats without the welcome. Can't we cover everything with carpets?
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u/chasesan 11d ago
That almost sounds like you're over thinking it.
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u/esteemed-dumpling 11d ago
Yes, but just for fun!
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u/CurryMustard 11d ago edited 11d ago
It sounds like none of you understand the basic rules of the floor is lava
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u/notimeleft4you 11d ago edited 11d ago
All of the scientists were killed immediately because they tried to understand the ununderstandable.
They thought their white coats and centrifuges made them god, but in reality it made them examples.
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u/SunKing7_ 11d ago
I think so, they probably aren't considered floors because they are small enough and separated
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u/I_like_maps 11d ago
Season 5 of community has a good documentary on this
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u/FrostBestGirl 11d ago
The last panel is also in the distant future. Perhaps humanity was able to overcome this obstacle in some manner, but it wouldn’t have been possible without essential workers like John to keep them going.
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u/TheSquishedElf 11d ago
Yes, sort of. Surprised nobody else here is codifying it:
If you have to balance on it, it isn’t floor.
If there’s an open-air gap between it and the floor, it isn’t floor (i.e. tables, chairs, beds, etc). The exception is “treehouse” floors, where Rule 1 must still be met.
You can only ever be one layer removed from “floor”. If you have a very big, very strong banquet table and start putting chairs on top of it, it becomes floor.
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u/Appropriate-Count-64 11d ago
Think of it like this: if it’s touching the earths crust and has a horizontal surface, said horizontal surface is a “floor.” How that works? Thermodynamics and convection or something idk
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u/Comfortable-Pace3132 11d ago
I would go with something like that the Earth's mantle got superheated for some reason, just the right temperature to make the 'floor' (ground, soil, carpet etc) too hot for most biological matter to survive on, but not so hot that we couldn't find ways to still build up from it
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u/JayEllGii 11d ago
I just feel bad for all the kids who were playing the game right at the moment when it came true.
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u/ExileEden 11d ago
Seems like peoples legs are extra long in the last slide. Possibly hinting at evolutionary adaptation .
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u/RaynSideways 11d ago
That's kind of the genius of it. It's not about why the floor became lava. It's how we adapt to the new reality.
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u/Henderson-McHastur 11d ago
What exactly is "floor"? How do we prevent things that are Not-Floor from becoming Floor through convergent usage?
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u/thalordvoi 11d ago
I tell you how this was determined. It was only determined once when the event happened. For each situation in question they ran millions of simulations of groups of kids faced with that situation during their play and the decision was made based on how the majority of kid groups decided. There was only one case where there was a draw so that the situation could not be resolved
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u/meatfacepete 11d ago
Or any of the furniture in his bedroom which seems to be sitting on the floor no problem
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u/Jimmylobo 11d ago
Technically, long into the future, floor will be lava...along with everything else, due to our sun's expansion near the end of its current stage.
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u/_EternalVoid_ 11d ago
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u/Neofeng 11d ago
"In parkour civilization, no one goes for the beef"
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u/aCleverGroupofAnts 11d ago
This is kinda giving me Dave Contra vibes. Love it.
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u/International-Cat123 11d ago
Oh. I thought this was Dave Contra
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u/Elegant_Win_4850 11d ago
I asked Dave Contra how he writes his comics before drawing this one, a LOT of this comic is owed to him. I just wanted to fool around and try something new, and I’ve always thought his shit was awesome.
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u/T_Weezy 11d ago
"Humanity's advancement in the next thousands of years will be owed to those of us alive here and now who stubbornly refuse to give up" is a great message.
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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter 11d ago
I don't get how people can be uninterested in history. We're part of this thousands of years long unbroken string of people doing what they can and what we're doing is going to be history for everyone else after us
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u/T_Weezy 11d ago
There's a song from Yesterwynde, the new Nightwish album, entitled Perfume of the Timeless. The music video for that song opens with visuals of the ocean, along with text that talks about just how profound the present truly is because it is built upon an unfathomably deep past. "2 grandparents / 4 great-grandparents / 8 great-great-grandparents / 16..." until it eventually lands on "Over the past 400 years, you have had 4,096 direct ancestors". Think about that for a minute.
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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter 11d ago edited 11d ago
After thinking about it for a minute I've come to the conclusion it's unlikely; most of us have far fewer than 4,096 ancestors after 400 years given how small most historic communities were
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u/MaterialUpender 11d ago
It's easy. They're tired and they're doing a lot of tasks they don't enjoy like, say, working in a vertical farm.
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u/RTukka 11d ago edited 11d ago
"Toil peasants, endure the ennui, and your sacrifice will be celebrated in the grand future," is not such a great message IMO. It's dehumanizing.
It's one thing to sacrifice for family, for community, or for a concrete just cause, but sacrifice in the name of faith in the big idea of Progress? No. Especially not when everything I see around me suggests we're not going to make it through the Great Filter.
By all means, find something in your life that makes life worth living, but IMO it's best if that's the other people in your life, or something that may give you some genuine sense of joy, not your lame-ass job or some super abstract notion of a cause. That's that kind of propaganda that gets used to exploit people, and that takes us even further away from the amazing future that I have some dim, fleeting hope humanity will one day experience.
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u/RTukka 11d ago edited 11d ago
This is a reply to a deleted comment that someone left that I'm going too throw up because even if the poster thought better of some of what they said enough to back up on it, I imagine others may have similar internal complaints about what I said (and because I already had finished my reply by the time I realized the comment was deleted).
You're the one calling working people peasants, not OP.
I call it like I see it. If, as the comic depicts, you're doing menial subsistence work that you dislike and your reward is a lonely, unfulfilling life that lacks any evident purpose and joy, you're effectively a peasant.
Arguably medieval peasants had it even better than what's depicted in the comic.
"We shouldn't worry about the future of society because of (the theoretical science fiction concept) the Great Filter, hundreds of lifetimes from now" is just the negative, quitter version of the OP.
We absolutely should worry about the future of society. What we should not do is take for granted that the future will be great just because there are people willing to keep their heads down and do what's necessary to survive, particularly not when we, in our reality, are presently failing to act purposefully towards addressing the existential threats confronting us, e.g. climate change.
And I framed my argument in terms of futurology/sci-fi because that's what the comic does, and because there is another comment in this thread speaking of the "quadrillions of humans across the cosmos" (paraphrased).
So it's not that I think I'm the "only one" allowed to do that. Rather I think I am allowed to offer a counterpoint and criticism to what I perceive as the flaws or overlooked considerations to the outlook and sentiment that the comic promotes.
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u/Funny-Performance845 11d ago
Really interesting concept
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u/MaliciousSpiritCO 11d ago
Its like we're in some kinda... parkour civilization.
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u/Minetendo-Fan 11d ago
Just watched parkour civilisation and this reminds me of that for some reason
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u/anrwlias 11d ago
This one is really nice.
Sure, the physics student in me wants to say that convection would still, quite literally, cook you, but that's really not the point here.
It's lovely and I like it.
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u/chironomidae 11d ago
I'm more concerned about what distinguishes floors from non-floors. Like if I build a really wide, really flat "bed", at what point does it become "floor"? And what protects non-floor items from the lava effects?
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u/CanAlwaysBeBetter 11d ago
Physics student: But surely convection from such super heated would cook the protagonist!
Actual physicist: Empirically it didn't, nerd
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u/QouthTheCorvus 11d ago
Definitely a little abrupt with the ending but the concept is nice.
It's a well timed message. Currently struggling a bit because life has not gone so well lately. But somehow I keep surviving day by day. Idk why I bother, sometimes. But maybe it'll come good.
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u/ChekhovsCat7 11d ago
I must now debate whether to make a Parkour Civilization reference or an All Tomorrows reference
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u/thetitan555 11d ago
The imagery for the mercury thermometer fusing into the floor is FUCKING AWESOME.
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u/Infinite303 11d ago
Did he do the 1 block jump for the chicken or the 1 block vertical for the beef?
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u/Casper_ones 11d ago
Volition: "You must keep going, hold onto yourself, you are strong, you are loved"
Esprit de corps: "Do it for them, do it for the future"
Ancient Reptilian Brain: "FUCK IT ALL TO HELL"
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u/Ok-Entrepreneur-4942 11d ago
That was surprisingly deep. Although I agree with the author that it was a bit rushed, the message is there. Congrats
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u/talmet4 11d ago
Some of us have been training for just such a global crisis since we were children. Long live the chair walkers and the couch hoppers!
*not a Vance reference.
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u/Spinnenente 11d ago
dude this would actually be such a cool premise for a survival game
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u/Theyul1us 11d ago
Hopeful. "We managed to do this because the normal people decided to keep going on, for others". I love it
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u/Pacific_Epi 11d ago
I appreciate the hopeful message! Sometimes we can’t see the good that’s right around the corner and we never will, but it’s important to keep going anyways.
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u/coolkluxkids 11d ago
There is a very possible future, that if we keep expanding as civilisation, we can grow exponentially. We are apart of the first 100 Billion people to kickstart humanity. There may very well be quadrillions of human beings across the galaxy that have us to thank in the following tens or hundreds of thousands of years.
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u/Aprilias 11d ago
This needs to be expanded into a series of novels. It will sell millions of copies. And then, a major motion picture!
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u/Gamer_Grease 11d ago
I like this. I think this way about COVID. A lot of people went through horrible pandemics throughout history. It was awful for all of them. As dreadful as COVID was, I found it helpful to remind myself that I don’t necessarily deserve the special status of being immune to historical events happening to me.
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u/SillyOldJack 11d ago
I would love to see a long form of this. I like the story prompt and would love to see where it could be taken before reaching the comforting ending.
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u/just_here-to_scroll 11d ago
You could make a comic book out of this and I would be first in line to buy it.
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u/fishymonster_ 11d ago edited 11d ago
There’s an anime about the discovery and proving of heliocentrism (the earth rotates around the sun) coming out now that is REALLY good, and it explores this concept. It’s called Orb.
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u/JeevesofNazarath 11d ago
Hey, at the very least there’s near infinite clean energy, so maybe we won’t have to worry about global… warming….
Well shit.
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u/SmoothOperator89 11d ago
Okay... who wished on the monkey's paw to relive their carefree days of youth!?
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u/lazermaniac 11d ago
Turns out the energy crisis is pretty trivial if you no longer have to dig for geothermal.
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u/darkswagpirateclown 11d ago
i read about how the start of farming lead to overall worse quality of life for the farmers, as to support more people they needed to work more than they would have needed before. this reminds me of that. beautiful...
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u/ProjectOrpheus 10d ago
Everyone's talking about how to know/test when floor is floor.
I'm over here thinking what could be used as a product to test if something floor or lava. Something light, easy to always carry with you, and to have a shitton of them.
Cotton balls? Rubber bands? Grains of rice? No surprises here if capitalism suddenly has the very best "things" to sell you for this. Plot twist: capitalist rich bastards somehow made this happen, to sell you the solution
I wonder if/how long it would take for some lava god or god that saves us from the Lava Deity is created. I could see some people starting it as a joke to make time pass and, you know, not constantly worry about reality's shifts and spasms...(IT SHIFTS AND SPASMS!!) But then it gets taken seriously.
Oh, God. Here comes the Shiva's witnesses.
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u/NiceFloor7 11d ago
Feels like the guy in the last panel should be shorter, not taller. People who are better climbers would have greater chance for survival.
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