Editing 524: Party

{{comic
| number    = 524
| date      = December 31, 2008
| title     = Party
| image     = party.png
| titletext = I wonder what 2008 meme will go bizarrely mainstream in 2009 like rickrolling did in 2007-2008. I accidentally <noun>? Yo, dawg? Place your bets now!
}}


==Explanation==
This [[:Category:New Year|New Year comic]] plays out at what is, probably, a {{w|New Year}} party thrown by [[Danish]]. (The previous New Year day comic in 2007 was also related to a wild party: [[364: Responsible Behavior]]).

In the first panel, we see [[Black Hat]] telling [[Cueball]] that he has hired {{w|Rick Astley}} to show up at a party for a girl. Cueball, assuming Rick Astley is going to perform a live Rickroll, asks if it isn't a little "last year". 
{{w|Rickrolling}} is where one is redirected to a video of Rick Astley singing "{{w|Never Gonna Give You Up}}" via a weblink purporting to be something else. It was later extended to any situation where the song is used disruptively, such as during a party. It started in 2006 and grew until peaking on April Fool's Day in 2008. Thus, at New Years Eve 2008, the meme was getting old.{{citation needed}} However, Black Hat assures Cueball that Rick Astley is not actually going to sing.

The comic then continues to the now ongoing party and we see the girl in question, [[Danish]], Black Hat's girlfriend, talking with [[Ponytail]] when she notices Rick Astley at her party. Like Cueball, Danish expects Rick Astley is going to sing and Rickroll her. She obviously hates this idea and braces her self for the humiliation of being Rickrolled, but she is freaked out when he just stands there staring at her, but without singing. In the end, his presence alone causes her to hear the song in her head instead, and finally she flees the room screaming, slamming a door behind her. Black Hat has essentially Rickrolled her in her own mind, which is far worse than just playing a song for her, but Black Hat could not have done so without the willing assistance from Rick!{{citation needed}}

When Ponytail asks Rick Astley "what did you do to her?", he begins by saying "that, my dear" and then slowly [[:Category:Puts on sunglasses|puts on sunglasses]] before he answers "Is how <u>I</u> roll."  This references both Rickrolling and the [https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/115813/origin-of-how-we-i-roll|"that's how I roll"] meme.

Although the identity of the girl Black Hat is pranking is not stated by [[Randall]] (he refers to her as Girl 1), there is a theory that she is Danish, Black Hat's girlfriend. However, Danish would likely ordinarily play it cool and be entirely unruffled by something like this. Most agree that this behaviour is more akin to Megan, as she can assume all sorts of various reactions to stimuli depending on what Randall decides is appropriate in that instance.

The title text refers to the fact that Rickrolling first appeared in 2007 (on {{w|4chan}}) and became viral for over a year. Given that this is a New Year comic, it is thus relevant to ask what meme will replace Rickrolling in the new year, 2009. Although [[Randall]] makes reference to the "[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/xzibit-yo-dawg Xzibit Yo Dawg]" and "[https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/i-accidentally I accidentally...]" photocaptioning memes, {{w|memebase}} entries suggest the "Keep Calm and Carry On" meme may well have become the most popular (and most enduring, as of 2013) meme of 2009.


Rickrolling became one of the most relevant memes from that era. There are many [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvFZjo5PgG0 articles] on why that is.

==Transcript==
:Black Hat: And so I hired Rick Astley to show up at her party.
:Cueball: And Rickroll her? Isn't that a little...last year?
:Black Hat: Ah, but he's not going to sing.

:Danish: Hey is that Rick Astley?
:Ponytail: I think it is. He just came in.
:Danish: Oh no. Brace yourself.

:Danish: Wait. He's just standing there. Where's the song?
:Danish: He's staring at me.
:Danish: This is a little creepy.

:Danish: What's going on?
:Danish: That's actually ''Rick Astley'' staring at me.
:Danish: What's he doing?
:Danish: Oh God, I keep expecting it, hearing it in my head.

:[Danish pulls at her hair.]
:Danish: Just do it already!
:[Danish runs off stage right.]
:Danish: AAAAAAAA

:[Danish slams the door leaving Ponytail and Rick Astley]
:Door: Slam

:Ponytail: Mr. Astley?
:Rick Astley: Yes?
:Ponytail: What did you ''do'' to her? What ''was'' that?

:Rick Astley: That, my dear,

:[Rick Astley puts on sunglasses.]

:Rick Astley: Is how '''''<u>I</u>''''' roll.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:New Year]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Black Hat]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Danish]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]
[[Category:Comics featuring real people]]
[[Category:Puts on sunglasses]]
[[Category:Rickrolling]]
[[Category:Music]]