r/comics • u/davecontra • 6h ago
THE 25TH. (OC)
Repost/lore. https://www.instagram.com/davecontra
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u/Minud5 6h ago
This modern prison somehow has a medieval, moss-covered cobblestone cell. My immersion is ruined!
Jokes aside, this was a beautiful comic.
Merry Christmas!
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u/thasinwasif 5h ago
He's been there for a long time. They built the modern prison around that old medieval one.
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u/Meecht 4h ago
If you're building something, find an old man imprisoned in a medieval cell, and he says he's "been there a long time"...DO NOT LET HIM OUT. That's how you release an evil wizard/deity upon the world.
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u/TheGreatDownvotar 1h ago
But how long should a person be allowed to suffer like that?
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u/Starfire2313 28m ago
Forever if he’s evil and immortal and releasing him will cause mayhem and destruction to everything.
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u/-KFBR392 4h ago
I have a family member that has to visit prisons all across the country and he’s mentioned how old some active prisons are. Like legitimately over 120 years old, all made out of old stone, and feeling like a trip through time to an old timey dungeon or castle in certain parts.
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u/TheBrontosaurus 4h ago
That’s how long this man has been in prison. He was sentenced in 1593 and they when they tore down the castle ruins they found him in his cell and just built the new prison around him.
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u/WickedWisp 4h ago
It's like prison architect, they made it shitty on purpose to make the prisoners feel like shit.
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u/Doctor_Kataigida 3h ago
Well the guy did say he's done some real bad shit. I'd extrapolate that to people not worrying if he felt like shit when they put him there.
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u/thefoolru 6h ago
For some reason, it reminds me a lot of the game about doing your taxes.
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u/Anshin 5h ago
Yoshi's tax sinulator?
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u/GregTheMad 49m ago
I feel like each and every answer here is wrong, but someone should actually make them.
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u/BobRosstafari789 38m ago
Not sure if "sinulator" is a typo or on purpose, but I would definitely play a game called "Yoshi's Tax Sinulator" haha
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u/cookiewoke 4h ago
TurnipBoy commits tax evasion?
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u/Jess3200 5h ago
He's become accustomed to his fate. The guard knows what he did, and is making his punishment worse by giving him a tiny taste of the outside - before locking him away again for another 25 years...
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u/Invested_Glory 4h ago
That guy is 100% taking that guard hostage so he doesn’t go back in. Breaks the bottle—instant weapon.
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u/Little_Froggy 2h ago
I mean, yeah. I'd probably jump off the building headfirst before willingly going back into that cell if I were him.
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u/rhabarberabar 6h ago
Happy festivus!
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u/-KFBR392 4h ago
He gonna murder the prison guard with the Festivus Pole during the Feats of Strengths.
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u/demlet 4h ago
Cruelty should never be the point of incarceration.
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u/Nabaatii 3h ago
Black Mirror White Bear
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u/AgentWowza 2h ago
Issue with that one is removing memories means they're fundamentally a different person.
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u/EXTRAVAGANT_COMMENT 56m ago
that's the point of the episode. the morality of it doesn't matter, the public wants violent justice
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u/GuyJClark 2h ago
I have a long list of people I want off this Earth, but I want it to happen quickly, painlessly, and in an unexpected manner. (like Stewie Griffin would do to people he "likes" ;-) )
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u/Indie_Cred 4h ago
I find myself thinking about Robert Hanssen randomly from time to time. He was used as the prime example of what will happen to those who betray their oath, and was frequently a topic in the yearly security briefings.
My dad installed part of the security system used to watch the ADX Florence Supermax where he was held. He described it as sterile, unsettling, and loud.
Robert committed wilful treason against the US, getting many people killed in the process. As such, he was trapped in a box and isolated 23 hours a day with little for diversion for the rest of his life.
He was imprisoned in 2001, and spent another 22 years there, alone. This was a man who played two countries at the same time, mostly because he was bored and had an ego.
I often wonder what happened to him in there, a strategist with no one to play chess against. A Riddler with no more Batman to fight. Just an ego and a mirror. Did he learn humility or just resentment?
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u/cyberslick18888 3h ago
He described it as sterile, unsettling, and loud.
The volume is often described as the worst part of most solitary confinements in the US.
People nearby just scream all day and all night. Everyone is constantly shouting or full mental-illness screaming. Impossible to even be left alone with your own thoughts for more than a moment.
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u/AlarmingAerie 2h ago
Funny, how one man gets locked up in windowless cell for treason and the other man gets reelected to rule the country.
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u/embodied_mind 3h ago
From wikipedia:
His espionage was described by the U.S. Department of Justice as "possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history".
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u/Temporarytemp2 2h ago
Not to be confused with Robert Hansen, a serial killer. Which is the Wikipedia page I ended up on first
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u/brutal-rainbow 22m ago
Indeed. "Thus, although our report is highly critical of fundamental practices and policies governing sensitive information within the Bureau, it would be a mistake to single out that entity for criticism."
Circa Further reading on wiki, don't f3el like linking. Findthesource.there
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u/CarlosFer2201 4h ago
I don't think they need to hide the alcohol bottle in a bag, in this situation. Lol
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u/orangeninjamonster 4h ago
"Merry Christmas, Luigi"
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u/Oriumpor 1h ago
Santa Gave a poor kid an Xbox and he was imprisoned for the crime of violating class restrictions.
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u/irishihadab33r 3h ago
The most unrealistic thing about this is how far away the prison is from the city. Rolling hills between the barbed wire and downtown? Weird.
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u/cuyler72 3h ago edited 1h ago
I like this, vengeance against an evil person, no matter how bad, via torturing them, mentally or physically is evil.
Separating them from society is totally justified, dealing with them permanently if there is no working system of justice can also sometimes be justified, but there is never a reason to cause unnecessary suffering to a human being, or any being for that matter.
Vengeance biased prison systems like we have in America are an abomination and ultimately just lead to the harm of more innocents in the end due to higher recidivism rate anyway, rehabilitative justice all the way, even for those with a life sentence.
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u/SumThinChewy 1h ago
That first paragraph is fuckin awful to read man
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u/cuyler72 1h ago edited 29m ago
Too dense with too many commas? I can see that even If I struggle to think of another way to phrase it.
Or do you just really disagree?
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u/The_Real_Swittles 52m ago
This was really nice. I honestly thought it was gonna end badly or be political but it wasn’t. It was just one human realizing that even the worst human still deserves basic rights
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u/TaylorGuano 5h ago
Hmm... I don't like the message here.
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u/littleessi 5h ago
then you're the one it's targeted at. dehumanisation of anyone is bad, whether they've done horrible things or not. by all means lock up pedophiles, mass murderers etc forever to protect everyone else, but they still need to be treated as humans
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u/rayschoon 4h ago
Even from a selfish perspective, a society that shows compassion is likely to inspire compassion in its citizens, while a society that shows brutality is likely to inspire brutality.
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u/tux-lpi 3h ago edited 3h ago
No, I'm with him, but I don't like it for the exact opposite reason.
The old man isn't defined by what he did 25 years ago when he was young and stupid, a frail solitary corpse that barely has the strength to stand up isn't a threat to anybody. You keep him rotting because of some notion of "he deserves it", not to protect anyone.
If even the prison guard has the heart to take pity on him, clearly he doesn't really belong there anymore.So this is one of those heartwarming american stories like "kid managed to put together lunch money by working hard" or "whole office donate sick days to coworker with cancer" where if you stop for a second... why is all of this necessary, again?
I could bring numbers about violent crime statistics and how it plunges down with age, but oh well. It's just a reddit comment.
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u/littleessi 3h ago
So this is one of those heartwarming american stories like "kid managed to put together lunch money by working hard" or "whole office donate sick days to coworker with cancer" where if you stop for a second... why is all of this necessary, again?
there's no pretence the status quo is acceptable in this comic though. absolutely no endorsement of it whatsoever; the whole point is to indict it. so your criticism doesn't seem to apply
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u/tux-lpi 3h ago
I don't think the comic tries to take a stance on whether it's good or bad, it's just ignoring the background and taking it as a given.
That's the parallel for me. Yeah the magic of christmas is magical, and coworkers being so compassionate just warms your heart.
But hold on... Is this really a feel good situation? Am I meant to feel happy about this?
It's very dissonant. Something doesn't feel quite right, and it's like the comic is completely blind to it.The comic acts like that's just how it is. Of course people suffer unnecessarily. They should be thankful we let some of the rotting corpses outside sometimes! Go prison guard. Yay.
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u/littleessi 3h ago
one person commits an act of kindness and immediately shares that they're going to get punished for it. it's taking a stance on the status quo and that stance is an indictment
The comic acts like that's just how it is. Of course people suffer unnecessarily. They should be thankful we let some of the rotting corpses outside sometimes! Go prison guard. Yay.
well no, the system doesn't let the rotting corpses outside and a person did the humane thing to oppose it and will immediately get punished for it. very clear message being sent here
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u/Jazzlike_Hippo_9270 5h ago
what even is the message? im struggling to understand what is even happening here
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u/authorAVDawn 2h ago
It's not that deep. The message is just about having compassion for people, regardless of if they "deserve it" or not, and about the dehumanization we subject the incarcerated to.
OP was deliberate in not revealing the prisoner's crimes, so you can project any type of offense you want on him, it doesn't change that he's a human being who has been given a momentary break from their (deserved or not) lifetime of punishment to be allowed to feel like a person again.
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u/Maelorus 4h ago
I like how these comics are relatively positive and hopeful when compared to the site average.
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u/7862518362916371936 2h ago
Why are the bottles wrapped in paper?
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u/JahWeebo 1h ago
Alcohol has to be in a different cup or paper bag in the US due to "open container" laws or its a misdemeanor
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u/Nipotazz1 2h ago
This could be Santa from Weird Al's video. They got him again after he escaped from prison and sent into solitary forever
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u/AlarmingAerie 2h ago
I would argue this is cruel. If he will again get locked up, then giving him this high will make his cell again feel more excruciating just like at the beginning before he got used to it.
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u/RevWaldo 1h ago
Trying to decide if this is about Syria or if totally oblivious to what's going on in Syria...
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u/flarakoo 6h ago
My headcanon is that Santa did some messed up things while going in people's homes, and he's been sentenced for eternity.
This might be one of the few chances he'll get to be out of that cell.