374: Journal

Journal

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Title text: And the journal is filled with all the things I'd say to her if I were nice like you. I burn it when it's full.

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Explanation

Black Hat isn't the type of person to keep a journal, so Cueball is understandably surprised when he sees Black Hat's journal. Black Hat lives up to our expectations of him, as it turns out that the journal is just part of a plot to hurt innocents. The title-text implies that he really does use his journal to record his private, wistful thoughts and that he may be more than just a sociopath.

If you want to see how well the plan worked, check out 377: Journal 2

The whole "Journal" story are:

• 374: Journal (this one)
• 377: Journal 2
• 405: Journal 3
• 432: Journal 4
• 433: Journal 5

Transcript

[Cueball picks up book from a table.]

Cueball: Since when do you keep a journal?

[Black Hat leans over from computer to answer.]

Black Hat: Oh, I pretend to write in it on the train, and wait for a shy-looking girl to sit across from me.

[Scene change to a train. Black Hat is sitting across from a girl.]

Black Hat: I glance up and wait for her to make eye contact, then look down bashfully and, if I can, blush.

[Scene back to original room with Cueball and Black Hat.]

Black Hat: Then, when I see her start to smile at me, I roll my eyes and hit her with a quick glare, then resume writing. The alienation stays with her all day. It's great.

[Black Hat is back to typing on the computer.]

Cueball: You're sickening. This is why we can't have nice people.

Black Hat: I can't help it. It's like shooting lonely, angsty fish in a barrel.

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Discussion

It seems to me that panel four is referencing the "This is why we can't have nice things" meme.--208.233.39.21 13:23, 14 November 2012 (UTC)

Well maybe. Because without knowing that meme it seems like there is something missing. (Like "...we can't have nice people visiting"). --Kynde (talk) 15:21, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

I interpret the title text (about how he writes nice things he would say to the girl in the journal) as part of his technique: he puts himself in the mood of being interested in the girl so that his facial and body language would convey this information as best as possible (so, for example, he will be able to generate a fake blush). Mountain Hikes (talk) 19:08, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

I thought the title text was Black Hat insulting nice people by burning their thoughts 162.158.57.101 18:47, 21 March 2016 (UTC)

It is probably both --Kynde (talk) 15:21, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

I think Black Hat's roommate is Rob, rather than Cueball. 108.162.221.140 17:40, 20 September 2016 (UTC)

I just did this exact thing to a poor girl. It really is like shooting fish in a barrel, minus the blood (hopefully). Also, I’d love to see this play out in a different way, where black hat is approached by the girl and him, being unprepared due to his naive belief that all the girls it works on are too shy to approach him because he believes himself to be able to perfectly deduce whether a girl is shy just by looking at her and therefore lacking a proper response, shuts down and settles with a “non-crazy girl” and drives her insane with his antics. I’d love to see how black hat interacts romantically with “‘normal” girls. stevethenoob 19:58, 4 July 2025 (UTC)
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