The worst part is it wasn't a tradition at all. XT-22 was just an asshole.
this post was submitted on 18 Oct 2025
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That's how a lot of traditions begin. Some of them might have had a good reason behind them, some just got started and spread on a whim
They’re clones… aren’t they all assholes?
Yes... But Cleon 24 eventually tried to save Demerzel, While Cleon 23 turned insane and went on a murder spree.
More of a decloning spree than a murder spree.
As long as you don't take into account the wiping of 3 civilizations.
Oh yeah. Forgot about that. :/ What is it with these scifi bad guys and planet killers?
Empire was the best part of that show, and apparently the entire "genetic dynasty" thing wasn't even in the books.
What did 23 qualified himself again?
The Consequential?
I'm surrounded by assholes!
Break the cycle of abuse.
Be better than XT-22.
Leave a better ship for XT-24.
Also, 30 years and he didn't bother with a cover up?
It's not like there's anyone else to see it.
Yeah, but would you want to see it in the mirror?
It's an acquired taste.
And this way they're all look slightly different, would you rather look like all the other versions you see in the pods, pictures and so on or would you keep the tattoos?
Found 22!!
cover up with what? makeup? making makeup just to look oneself in the mirror seems pretty wasteful. I imagine once in a while he might try once to see what he would look like without them. But not for regular use
Usually cover up refers to masking a tattoo with another tattoo. There's a plethora of examples out there, largely driven by regretful breakups and reformed neo-nazis/prison gang members. Since he clearly has the tattoo gun to tattoo #24, he could have done himself at some point. I would probably prefer to not have a dick/balls and loser written on me.
My bad. I guess a coverup tattoo is probably not fun to do on yourself. and because he does not have to deal with anyone, it makes sense he doesn't give a fuck
XT-24's skin that's what
Also, 30 years and he didn’t bother with a cover up?
If I was doomed to spend my entire life alone in a spaceship, and the only memento I have from another human being (even if they are my clone) is some stupid ass tattoos on my face - I'd want to keep these tattoos.
Who hurt you?
Yes
Sligtly oftopic: It's ok to abondon tradtitions that harm others.
Its ok to abandon tradition for no reason at all.
Trying to get other people to do something just because other people did it is often a dick move.
Except when it comes to legal precedent
for example, consuming their corpses and raping them and stealing their baby food
What kind of sicko does the corpse consumption before the raping? Eww
Nestle
(I was making a commentary about veganism)
I think they got this, but were inferring that you were describing order (which would make the order listed incorrect) as opposed to simply listing 2 things (what I believe you were doing).
Actually the veganism aspect went right over my head, just seemed like a random list of bad behaviour lol
As long as you replace it with another tradition that causes equal harm
no! more harm, less tradition!
I can never help but be put off by the trivial "as my 30 year life cycle comes to an end..." when I read this comic. I wonder if we'll ever be at a stage where we produce/program biological "robots" that are capable of having this kind of relationship to their own existence.
It doesn't sound too far off from my experience of depression. When I was in my 20's I fully expected to be dead (one way or another) before 30 and I felt pretty blasé about it. Having 50+ more years of misery seemed intolerable by comparison. Then 30 kinda snuck up on me and things really had gotten a little bit better, so I just kept on going just to see what would happen, and have kept keeping on ever since.
there's a few essential differences between animals and plants, and one of them is that plants try to maximize their surface area to collect more sunlight, while animals try to minimize their surface area because surface area is attack area.
as a consequence, animals are kinda sphere-shaped, or at least they center all their body relatively closely to some center point. I.e. humans have 2 m diameter max, from tip to toe, while plants can easily have roots that stretch for kilometers.
i assume that robots are much closer to animals than plants, and as such, they have a rather narrowly centered body, and as such, that center point automatically gains a lot of significance. So, it is quite likely that robots would have an "i" awareness similarly to how a sphere is clearly distinct from everything around it.
What else do you need for an "i" awareness? I mean, "i am a particle in space" is pretty dependent on the thought of being at a well-defined position in space, which is only possible if your body is relatively compact.
There really should be a squeal to this comic. Does each clone add something to the tattoos? How many clones are ther? What happens when there is no more blank space on the face? What happens when the clones get back with the face tattoos?
If you do this, be prepared to get elbowed in the face (repeatedly). And no, I'm definitely not proud of it.