2498: Forest Walk

2021-08-05T16:53:20Z

162.158.106.14: fix order

{{comic
| number = 2498
| date = August 4, 2021
| title = Forest Walk
| image = forest_walk.png
| titletext = The only other person to walk by was a linguist back in the 80s, but she just spent a while dissecting the phrase 'help me down' before getting distracted by a squirrel and wandering off.
}}

{{incomplete|Created by D. B. COOPER. The explanation doesn't exist. We need to add the explanation for the main comic and the title text. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
==Explanation==

Megan is walking in a forest with Beret Guy who owns a big part of it. Megan is surprised that he owns such a big property, however, Beret Guy is known for his inexplicable businesses such as in [[1493: Meeting]] and from [[1032: Networking]]; we know he probably has enough resources to be able to buy it. Alternatively, he might have simply inherited it from his mom [[502: Dark Flow]].

They meet a rather disheveled-looking bearded man hanging from a parachute caught in a tree. The man shakes a stick at them and demands to be helped down to the ground. Beret Guy simply addresses him as "Mister Cooper" and asks if he promises to return the money he took. The man angrily refuses, and Beret Guy casually says he'll see him again tomorrow, suggesting that this conversation has become a daily routine.

Megan asks if the man was D. B. Cooper. Beret Guy confirms that he is. He then comments on an owl nest as another bit of "neat stuff" found on his land, suggesting that he finds Cooper's presence to be moderately interesting but not really remarkable.

{{w|D. B. Cooper}} is the identity given to a man who hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft in 1971. He collected a $200,000 ransom (equivalent to $1,250,000 in 2020) and famously donned a parachute and jumped from the plane over the state of Washington. Even after lengthy FBI investigations, it is still unknown who he was, or what ever became of him. The only things known about him are a police composite drawing and the name "Dan Cooper", under which he had purchased his airline ticket. The name D. B. Cooper came about as a result of a miscommunication with the media. The comic is insinuating that, after leaping from the plane, he got entangled in a tree and has somehow been there ever since. As mentioned in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], Cooper was also known for ambiguous, possibly affected speaking style and use of unusual phrases such as 'negotiable American currency', he seems to hold to this habit and instead of much more common 'Help me right now!' or 'Put me down immediately!' he used rather unlikely combination of words 'You help me down this instant!'.

D. B. Cooper was already referenced by Randall in [[1400: D.B. Cooper]], [[1501: Mysteries]] and [[2452: Aviation Firsts]].

Uncanny situations are nothing new to Beret Guy as he himself possesses many [[Category:Strange_powers_of_Beret_Guy|strange powers]]. Because of this he seems to be unable to differentiate between something normal but interesting, such as an owl nest in a forest, and something as outright impossible{{Citation needed}} as a famous criminal hanging from a tree, otherwise unnoticed for decades and somehow still thriving - though clearly aged.

The issues of food, water and other necessities are unaddressed, but this individual has at least obtained what seemingly could be a walking-stick, to accompany his age-acquired frailty. In some ways this is unexceptional, as the one resource (other than rain, possibly) that he has easiest access to are tree branches, but then the question is whether it can be considered a walking stick if he has not actually walked (or stood, or anything but dangled) for however long he has possessed it. There is a clearly broken branch-stump at roughly his height upon the tree trunk, possibly the remains of an earlier attempt to gain support enough to become disentangled, and perhaps he had the presence of mind (or was stubborn enough) not to drop the part that unfortunately snapped off in his hand in the attempt.

The title text may reference to the linguist from [[2390: Linguists]] who is more interested in the linguistic nuances that people use than in actually responding to their call for assistance. It is not known how many others have walked through Beret Guy's land, in the interim, or whether it is their own nature or the general auea from Beret Guy, but the linguist clearly did not much more than ponder the phrase "help me down". Megan also seems in no particular hurry to intervene.

==Transcript==
:[Megan and Beret Guy are walking through a landscape with spread out trees and grass and puddles on the ground.]
:Megan: Wow, this is all yours?
:Beret Guy: Yeah! All the way back to the river!
:Beret Guy: I walk here every day.

:[Megan still walks towards Beret Guy who has now stopped and is looking up while speaking to a man hanging in a tree in front of them. The man has long wild hair and a large beard. He hangs from his parachute which has been folded around a large branch sticking out from beneath the top of the tree. He is holding a long stick of some sort, seemingly attempting to threaten Beret Guy, as the stick and his legs are vibrating as indicated with small lines.]
:Beret Guy: Morning, mister Cooper!
:Cooper: You help me down '''''this instant!'''''

:[Pan down to show only Beret Buy and nothing else. Cooper replies from off-panel from the top corner.]
:Beret Guy: Do you promise to give back all the money you took?
:Cooper [off-panel]: '''''Never!'''''
:Beret Guy: Okay! See you tomorrow!

:[Megan and Beret Guy continue walking through the landscape with three small trees behind them, as well as grass, rocks and a small puddle. Megan looks back over her shoulder towards where Cooper is hanging.]
:Megan: Was that D.B. Cooper?
:Beret Guy: Yeah, and up ahead there's an owl nest!
:Beret Guy: There's so much neat stuff here.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Beret Guy]]
[[Category:Comics featuring D. B. Cooper]]
[[Category:Animals]] 
[[Category:Squirrels]] 
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:920: YouTube Parties

2021-08-05T15:29:50Z

162.158.106.14:

Oh god, is this what other people do to me when I'm showing a video at a youtube party? Gaaaah. '''[[User:Davidy22|{{Color|purple|David}}y²²]]'''[[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>[talk]</tt>]] 09:26, 9 March 2013 (UTC)

Is a YouTube party a real thing? I've never heard of one. [[Special:Contributions/70.24.167.3|70.24.167.3]] 23:26, 30 September 2013 (UTC)
: Hi 70.24.167.3 -- they totally are a real thing !! -- however you need a special invitation from the secret society, I can email you one if you want. [[Special:Contributions/127.0.0.1|10.0.0.1]] 25:12, 32 December 2013 (UTC) {{unsigned|Spongebog}}
:: Don't worry [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0 here is a invitation] [[Special:Contributions/127.0.0.1|172.16.10.123]] 23:12, 1 December 2013 (UTC){{unsigned|Spongebog}}
: I'd say most "YouTube parties" are just coincidental gatherings of people in front of a computer, e.g. during any other kind of party, or in an office break. As for the explanation given here, I don't see the comic being "unclear whether they realize it". They ''don't'' realize it, everybody thinks ''his'' video will blow the others' minds. --[[User:YMS|YMS]] ([[User talk:YMS|talk]]) 20:05, 12 January 2014 (UTC)

If you tell a story about your kid, I hope you're not doing it to show off. In my opinion, that's immoral. [[Special:Contributions/172.68.47.6|172.68.47.6]] 03:55, 19 November 2017 (UTC)

This also happens during karaoke. Nobody is amazed by your performance, they're all just silently hyping themselves up for when their song comes up in queue. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.106.14|162.158.106.14]] 15:29, 5 August 2021 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

2498: Forest Walk

Talk:920: YouTube Parties