358: Loud Party

Loud Party

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Title text: I'm glad this is so much fun because I'm not sure how we're getting down.

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Explanation

The comic depicts an average everyday scene - a party, with drinks, dancing, and a lot of commotion going on (hence the title). Amid the chaos, though, there are two people, Megan and Cueball, staring wistfully at each other. They both think of the same scene: the two of them sitting on branches of a large and bare tree, doing something on laptops. The implication is that these two kids are special - they don't derive their enjoyment of life from parties or other typical teenage activities, but rather simpler, more quiet activities.

The title text presents a simpler joke - it is rather difficult to get down from a tree, especially when carrying a fragile item like a laptop.

Transcript

[In a loud party, Megan and Cueball are looking at each other, both thinking of the same scene: they are sitting on opposite branches of a large leaf-less tree, each with a laptop. There's cloud in the distance and a grass field around the tree.]

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Discussion

Its easy to get down from a tree like that.. Pass your laptop to your partner, you climb down, then pass the laptops to the person on the ground, then SHE comes down.

98.144.105.195 18:36, 3 June 2013 (UTC)

No, you can't leave both laptops with one person, because then the fox will eat both of them. 118.209.55.156 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~) ♥♥♥♥

Unless you are Russian, meaning there is a rather insignificant chance that the fox MAY be tame. 208.54.86.193 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)208.54.86.193 02:17, 20 February 2014 (UTC)

Getting down from any tree is very, very easy. Physics wil help you. Unless you mean getting down unharmed?--162.158.86.119 09:10, 29 August 2016 (UTC)

I don't really understand this comic, even after the explanation. What are they doing on their laptops? And why do they need to go to a beautiful and isolated setting together to do it? Also, which is more typical behavior, teen or otherwise; to be enjoying a wild party, or sitting quietly with a laptop? Hint: guess which one I'm doing now? 108.162.219.223 20:41, 3 January 2014 (UTC)

btw love the 'fox' comment...the most insightful thing on this page! 108.162.219.223 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

January '14, in January '04, the laptop usage was still a bit nerdy. And in 2015... why aren't those dorks using an "iPad"[tablet] or just their phones up in that tree?108.162.245.116 14:53, 6 October 2015 (UTC)

Ok, I don't get the impression that the comic is implying that these two are special or anything, they'd just rather be elsewhere, doing something else. Something which I can appreciate. I mean, maybe they're introverted a bit, but whatever. -Pennpenn 108.162.250.162 06:07, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

I hate loud parties more because of the "loud" part than the "party" part. 108.162.221.43 02:24, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

So, are those two sitting in a tree daydreaming of being at a party, or are they at a party daydreaming they're in a tree? Jelsemium (talk) Jelsemium

This comic has so many possible extensions he might have run with. What if one person was at the party imagining being on the tree, and the other was on the tree imagining being at the party? Would some of the imagination become recursive? What about everyone else at the party? What are the laptops thinking about, do they wish they were playing a LAN game with each other? I think later he might have gone for more complexity but this is early work from a simpler time. David Bofinger (talk) 02:07, 20 August 2018 (UTC)

This comic easily could be repurposed as a commentary on the pandemic. Fizzytrater (talk) 16:47, 17 January 2021 (UTC)

Jelsemimum, they are at the party daydreaming about the tree. You can tell because the thought bubbles are directional. They start with small circles at the source and get larger towards the dream/thought. --176.199.209.149 10:41, 2 October 2025 (UTC)

How can the explanation tell that they are "staring wistfully at each other"? They don't have eyes or noses, for all we know they could be both looking at the floor. Instead of the two people looking at each other dreaming of being together, they might simply both have the same dream of being on a tree alone.--176.199.209.149 10:43, 2 October 2025 (UTC)

I think that the explanation got it backwards, the tree is real but the party is imaginary, this is a joke about how there are many people who are introverts but are forced to go to parties, while this comic is about the reverse. B for brain (talk) (youtube channel wobsite (supposed to be a blag)) 19:14, 12 March 2026 (UTC)

The thought-bubbles originate from the party-goers, the resulting shared thought-image being of those two people having a tree-sitting fantasy. 81.179.199.253 21:52, 12 March 2026 (UTC)
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