Difference between revisions of "1899: Ears"

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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a BOT - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
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{{incomplete|Very barebone description. Please add on to this. Thank you.}}
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Cueball and Megan are sitting in a park together and appear to be cloudwatching. Cueball asks if Megan has ever looked up in the sky and wondered what it would be like to have "normal shaped ears" so he could wear earbuds without them falling out. (This joke is directed towards a large group of people who cannot use earbuds successfully because they fall out.) Megan responds by making fun of Cueball and the stuff that goes on in his head with the random conversation points he tends to bring up.
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The title text represents a theory that Cueball has created, saying that humans who can wear earbuds have been taken over by mind control slugs who hold the earbuds for them, and people like him who can't are not under their control.
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==

Revision as of 12:42, 6 October 2017

Ears
My theory is that most humans have been colonized with alien mind-control slugs that hold the earbuds for them, and the ones who can't wear earbuds are the only surviving free ones.
Title text: My theory is that most humans have been colonized with alien mind-control slugs that hold the earbuds for them, and the ones who can't wear earbuds are the only surviving free ones.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Very barebone description. Please add on to this. Thank you.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

Cueball and Megan are sitting in a park together and appear to be cloudwatching. Cueball asks if Megan has ever looked up in the sky and wondered what it would be like to have "normal shaped ears" so he could wear earbuds without them falling out. (This joke is directed towards a large group of people who cannot use earbuds successfully because they fall out.) Megan responds by making fun of Cueball and the stuff that goes on in his head with the random conversation points he tends to bring up.

The title text represents a theory that Cueball has created, saying that humans who can wear earbuds have been taken over by mind control slugs who hold the earbuds for them, and people like him who can't are not under their control.

Transcript

[Cueball is sitting with his back towards Megan who is lying on her back on a grassy hill. Both are looking up at a sky with small puffy clouds (one large, two small, and four tiny). In the background fields are visible below their vantage point.]
[Same setting, but with the clouds removed, to make room for Cueball's text.]
Cueball: Do you ever just look up at the sky and wonder...
[Same setting, zoomed a bit out to make more of the background fields visible, still with the clouds missing due to the text from the two people.]
Cueball: "What are normal peoples' ears shaped like, that earbuds stay in without falling out?"
Megan: Man, who knows what's going on in there.


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Discussion

The explanation for this comic may wish to reference this NYT article on Earbud Cartilage Deficiency Syndrome (E.C.D.S.) [1]. I suffer from ECDS myself and hope this comic will bring much needed recognition to the condition. --172.68.65.54

I added the description. Feel free to edit it. --JayRulesXKCD what's up? 12:45, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

I modified the explanation. It is speculation that Cueball is listening to music through earbuds, as I can see nor read anything that made it a "fact" that he is doing so. Please feel free to revert my modification if anyone can present evidence to support that theory. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 00:37, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Re. "Megan responds by making fun of Cueball and the stuff that goes on in his head" - I'm not sure it's clear that that's what she's referring to. It could be read as she doesn't know what's going on in normal people's ears. In fact, my first reading of it was that it was a deliberate double meaning - she's making it sound to Cueball as if she's agreeing that there must be something weird about the ears, but privately she's referring to the weird thoughts in his head.162.158.155.32 13:08, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

If Cueball is listening to music, perhaps so does Megan and she doesn't actually hear him ... -- Hkmaly (talk) 23:57, 7 October 2017 (UTC)

The title isn't explicitly a reference to Animorphs/Yeerks, so I don't think we can claim that for sure (even though Randall has referenced it multiple times in the past). Hawthorn (talk) 14:33, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

Agree, and replaced "is a reference" with "may be a reference". Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 07:46, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Alternative theory: the brain slugs don't like ear buds so they push them out 162.158.74.27 01:50, 9 October 2017 (UTC)

Would it be worth mentioning the Doctor Who episode Age of Steel, whose plot was about earbuds being used to mind control society? At the very least, it's a rather similar concept to that described by the mouseover text.

The thing is, earbuds totally don't stay in. Not here, at least. They fall out constantly. Are my ears shaped wrong?--172.68.132.209 02:32, 14 January 2018 (UTC)

I have pointed ears and have yet to find a good (read: compatible) pair of over-the-ear headphones or behind-the-ear buds. 162.158.62.69 21:05, 31 July 2018 (UTC)