Difference between revisions of "215: Letting Go"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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(This feels like it was written by a five year old. Grammars is good.)
m (Transcript)
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
The title "Letting Go" is pointing on a classic human behavior; you know it's over, you can't do anything to reverse it, but nevertheless you are still very sad.
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In fiction, a character who has had a romantic relationship end will be shown taking some act to remove a sign of their partner's presence in their life, e.g. removing/selling a wedding or engagement ring, removing the partner's toiletries from the bathroom, or deleting the partner's phone number from a cell phone. This is used to symbolize that the character has accepted the end of the relationship and is ready to move on, no longer pining for their loss or seeking to restore the relationship.
  
[[Megan]] broke up with [[Cueball]] and he is still desolate just looking on the broken picture. When it gets night he still only looks at that picture, ignoring the computer screen in front of him. The next day he removes her account from his computer to finalize the end of their relationship, and properly let go of her.
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The first three panels imply that [[Cueball]] was presumably in a now-terminated relationship with [[Megan]]. The final panel shows him using the Unix command 'userdel' to delete her user account from his computer. The joke here is that he considers this to be a significant part of accepting that she is no longer a part of his life, where most people would consider it a routine administrative task.
  
The Unix command ''userdel'' deletes a user account. Megan can't login again.
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The title text refers to Cueball's thankfulness that he never gave Megan the password to the administrator ('root') account on the computer. It is unclear why this is; he might be worried that she would have used the access to perform [[340|malicious actions]] after the breakup, or simply glad to be spared the need to change the root password. Alternately, it could be a metaphor for marriage and/or a closer emotional relationship, and he is glad that he did not allow her an even greater hold on his heart before the breakup (which would, of course, have entailed commensurately more pain when she did leave him). Not sharing the root password is indicative of a lack of trust in their relationship, which could be a factor in the initial breakdown.
 
 
The title text continues the theme of Unix terminology, as the root password means full access to the system. But he never gave her access at this level, maybe the cause for the breakup.
 
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==
:[A picture of Cueball and Megan in a heart is being held by someone, it has been ripped down the middle, separating the two people.]
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:[Cueball is holding a picture of himself and Megan in a heart; it has been ripped down the middle, separating the two people.]
  
 
:[Cueball sits at computer, looking at the picture.]
 
:[Cueball sits at computer, looking at the picture.]
  
:[It is night, Cueball still sits at computer with the picture in front of him and his head drooped.]
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:[It is night. Cueball still sits at computer with the picture in front of him and his head drooped.]
  
:[It is day again, Cueball types on computer.]
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:[It is day again. Cueball types on the computer.]
 
:Text from computer: <code>root@homebox:~# userdel megan</code>
 
:Text from computer: <code>root@homebox:~# userdel megan</code>
  

Revision as of 04:48, 10 October 2017

Letting Go
At least I never gave her the root password.
Title text: At least I never gave her the root password.

Explanation

In fiction, a character who has had a romantic relationship end will be shown taking some act to remove a sign of their partner's presence in their life, e.g. removing/selling a wedding or engagement ring, removing the partner's toiletries from the bathroom, or deleting the partner's phone number from a cell phone. This is used to symbolize that the character has accepted the end of the relationship and is ready to move on, no longer pining for their loss or seeking to restore the relationship.

The first three panels imply that Cueball was presumably in a now-terminated relationship with Megan. The final panel shows him using the Unix command 'userdel' to delete her user account from his computer. The joke here is that he considers this to be a significant part of accepting that she is no longer a part of his life, where most people would consider it a routine administrative task.

The title text refers to Cueball's thankfulness that he never gave Megan the password to the administrator ('root') account on the computer. It is unclear why this is; he might be worried that she would have used the access to perform malicious actions after the breakup, or simply glad to be spared the need to change the root password. Alternately, it could be a metaphor for marriage and/or a closer emotional relationship, and he is glad that he did not allow her an even greater hold on his heart before the breakup (which would, of course, have entailed commensurately more pain when she did leave him). Not sharing the root password is indicative of a lack of trust in their relationship, which could be a factor in the initial breakdown.

Transcript

[Cueball is holding a picture of himself and Megan in a heart; it has been ripped down the middle, separating the two people.]
[Cueball sits at computer, looking at the picture.]
[It is night. Cueball still sits at computer with the picture in front of him and his head drooped.]
[It is day again. Cueball types on the computer.]
Text from computer: root@homebox:~# userdel megan


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Discussion

Man! That last panel broke my heart.

Right in the feelings. :( ‎173.245.50.139 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

When my last relationship ended I had to revoke her VPN certificate. Relationships got weird. 108.162.221.65 08:06, 22 July 2016 (UTC)

Is this the first comic in which Megan is named as such? 108.162.210.220 19:29, 12 September 2016 (UTC)

when i broke up with ada i deleted her user from my pc xd An user who has no account yet (talk) 18:41, 5 September 2023 (UTC)