RELEASED AT 22/04/18
LIVING NECESSITIES & DEATH
Basic necessities such as food, water, air or proper living temperature have plagued all living creatures from single-celled organisms to you humans. Its lack is a threat in many stories. Some that come to mind are those deserted island stories where out protagonist has to work to survive. It may sound specific but I feel like it's been done often.
That's why it's weird to see the humans in Piss Hole never mention the need for two of these necessities: food and water. In this essay I shall explain why the above is valid and how it affects the perception of life biologically and socially.
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Food
Food has existed ever since the first dozen Piss Hole comics. The various foods that we have seen are chips, peanut brittle, Spaghetti-Os, bananas, apples, baked beans and pizzas. Food in media is nothing surprising. It tasted good and you all like it. Who doesn't like a good snack? But this is how everyone treats it as in Piss Hole. Only a snack. Not once have we seen a character express hunger in its most literal sense. I believe that food is considered a want rather a need.
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Water
Water is viewed in a very different lens. Water is shunned and all who drink it agree to be a follower of Soaker. The so-called "water drinkers" are criminalized. For good reason though. The consumption of water empowers Soaker and, well, you know what happened next.(1)(2)
Drinking of other liquids is present, most commonly done by Rudy. He is rather fortunate among the drinking community because he has the ability to turn anything solid into a drinkable liquid. This ability has not been replicated as far as we know so if you wish to feel the sweet taste of your household objects you must track Rudy down.
There is one drink that sparked my curiosity: tea. Its only appearance is in "A Tedious Argument of Insidious Intent" during Rudy's projection. Stephanie serves it to him. It's... strange. Tea is made with water, right? If you combine water with other substances is the resulting homogeneous liquid lacking the Soaker-associated properties water had? But Soaker was able to control ocean water. Ocean water has quite the large amount of salt. Rather than a binary of can or cannot control, does the quality to control the liquid depend on the concentration of water in things?
After questioning Ashley about this they have confirmed that if enough stuff is mixed with water then it's no longer considered water.
I do not want to talk about Violet's piss-drinking tendencies. So I will not :-) -
Air
Surprise! After thinking about it I have realized that breathing is not necessary. How else would it be possible to live in this "piss hole" if it is filled with piss? That is why the gang were able to hang around the moon as well. Screw air.
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Biological Alternations
Humans in Piss Hole do not need to consume anything. Uhm, epic. But how the heck do they live? They are constatnly using up energy that comes out of nowhere. My hypothesis is that everyone is born with enough resources inside of them to live a full human life. One thing that I think helps my hunch is Nefartius' immortatily gland. It's dumb that all they need are some funny hormones to live forever (that is assuming that the immortality gland is an endocrine gland; I see no purpose as to why it would need to excrete anything outside of the body). But it could be the case that this immortality gland may be a modified version of the Piss Hole people's thyroid. Well, I say thyroid. Their thyroid must be better than yours because that stupid little gland is the only thing that stops them from consuming the body's energy and dying after a few months.
This can be exploited, though. If some guy just sat around and did nothing they would be able to live for slightly more than two centuries I estimate. Even if we say that this superthyroid deteriorates over time, the people that do more effort than average die faster. That would be a shame and I do not like it. Also it does not make sense why they would keep a digestive system and a urinary system. It only wastes more energy just get rid of it lol.It would be best not to sulk in the biological changes of stickfigures for too long. They already don't make sense.
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Social Alternations
oho this is going to be fun
Because of the lesser importance of food and drinks, the food industry's purpose is completely different. Going to a restaurant is more akin to going to the cinema. Most foods are directly transported to restaurants and fast food places. Food markets are uncommon but some still exist for hobbyists. Meats are sold less becuase it's messy and disgusting to most. If you want any meat your best bet is buying some from your local hunter. Making coffees and teas is a hard endeavor. Most likely it is handled by a closely surveilled company if it is handled at all.
Death by starvation, dehydration and oxygen related deaths such as choking or drowning do not exist. Homelessness is easier to manage if you find a good blanket to take care of the temperature part of surviving. Actually, I think that the main gang that we follow are homeless. Death by old age is a whole lot more common. As a result, death, especially death with ill intention, has a higher impact socially. If a justice system exists murder is punished more severely than ours. Greif is also harder to deal with whether the death may be man-made, medical or accidental.
In conclusion, living in Piss Hole is a whole lot easier than living in this silly world, but experiencing the death of another hurts a lot more. Tell me what you thought about this essay. If you have anything to add I am always happy to hear you! I'm in the Piss Hole Discord server as always.