Talk:1511: Spice Girl
Not being shouted (from without, at either cueball or his female companion) by a post-apocalyptic crowd, surely, but by Cueball (from within, at the post-apocalyptic person of whom he is currently trying to deny entry whilst possibly necessary weaponry is being loaded)... Or so I read it. If that makes sense. 141.101.99.4 05:43, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- It does look like that, but the caption states "through a door". -- microslayer
- The little lines around the origin point of the speech "bubble" is usually used in XKCD to indicate that the sound is coming through the surface or offscreen (see Writers Strike (360) and Time Vulture (926)). -Pennpenn 108.162.250.155 06:52, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- Except that I read the caption as meaning "through a door" by our Cueball, i.e. what someone like him would be shouting out, plosively. (It's "through the wall", anyway, if that's a 'through something' speech-bubble-originator-indicator (like the "THUMP"s are) rather than 'rather loudly' emphasis that I'd expect to be associated with Cueball. They are shown differently, with the non-THUMP indicator not really having the same appearance as all the other ones otherwise mentioned. Even in the very same panel.) Anyway, just my POV. Needs an Official Transcript to be sure, I suppose. 141.101.99.4 07:12, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- The speak line clearly shows it is Cueball who shouts this quiz title through a door. No question is it like this, so I have corrected the transcript accordingly.--Kynde (talk) 08:54, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- I disagree. It's not that clear. The marks around the end of the speech line indicate the question is being shouted from the other side of the wall, and I think - but can't be certain - that the line terminates near Cue Ball's head looks like to me like ambiguous drawing by the cartoonist. That, and the "through the door" make me think that Cue Ball is just silently holding the door shut against the rampaging hoards, who are doing all the shouting. 108.162.229.123 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- I agree that it is unclear. See comic 1493. Randall has used those little "blast" lines USUALLY to denote off-screen speech, but in that comic (the first example I found going backwards), he uses it directly on Cueball. That said, most uses are for sound effects or off-screen/through wall speech. I expected to find it used for "shouting", but Cueball isn't even shouting in that comic. Not sure why Randall used it. Another example is 1393. I initially read this comic as Cueball speaking, otherwise Randally would have drawn the line over Cueball's head to the door, but I don't think the other interpretation is necessarily wrong. I do think the third one had to go though. Cueball shouting to Megan doesn't line up with the caption of "through the door". TheHYPO (talk) 14:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- I also find it to be confusing. I first thought it was Cueball that was doing the shouting but after reading this page I now see that the little marks around the speech line are usually used when the speaker is off panel or inside of something (car or coming from PC, etc). I went looking through back comics to see if any yelling was indicated differently and found one where the character was not yelling but the speech line has the same little marks (First panel of Fundamental Forces http://xkcd.com/1489/). In that case it looks like a small mistake, but in this comic it just leaves me unsure who is speaking. 108.162.221.171 14:39, 13 April 2015 (UTC)Agent0013
- I am satisfied with the two different explanations currently being shown, given the controversy. However, to continue to support 'my' interpretation, do note the difference between the *THUMP* origins (unidirectionally starred lines, definitely on the door) and the question's origins (splayed lines, and an origin on the surface of a wall... coincidentally in the right place to be confused with originating from Cueball's mouth?). I'd accept that there's argument (before anyone else gives it) that because of Cueball's head being where it is one might not see the leftward-sloping asterism lines, but I don't think it's close enough to have obscured this (and could have been easily drawn to avoid such an illustration problem, as might a way to have drawn it to be unconfusingly not associated with Cueball's head at all). Tell you what, let's see if we can get it via the 3d.xkcd.com interface... Then we might know... ;) 141.101.99.4 15:26, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- I agree that it is unclear. See comic 1493. Randall has used those little "blast" lines USUALLY to denote off-screen speech, but in that comic (the first example I found going backwards), he uses it directly on Cueball. That said, most uses are for sound effects or off-screen/through wall speech. I expected to find it used for "shouting", but Cueball isn't even shouting in that comic. Not sure why Randall used it. Another example is 1393. I initially read this comic as Cueball speaking, otherwise Randally would have drawn the line over Cueball's head to the door, but I don't think the other interpretation is necessarily wrong. I do think the third one had to go though. Cueball shouting to Megan doesn't line up with the caption of "through the door". TheHYPO (talk) 14:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- I agree that it is clear it is Cueball shouting. The caption says through a door, not through a wall. The lines (different from the "through-door" lines) indicate he is shouting it with stress in his voice, through the door at a Spice Girl on the other side. 108.162.250.187 23:06, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- I disagree. It's not that clear. The marks around the end of the speech line indicate the question is being shouted from the other side of the wall, and I think - but can't be certain - that the line terminates near Cue Ball's head looks like to me like ambiguous drawing by the cartoonist. That, and the "through the door" make me think that Cue Ball is just silently holding the door shut against the rampaging hoards, who are doing all the shouting. 108.162.229.123 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- The speak line clearly shows it is Cueball who shouts this quiz title through a door. No question is it like this, so I have corrected the transcript accordingly.--Kynde (talk) 08:54, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- Except that I read the caption as meaning "through a door" by our Cueball, i.e. what someone like him would be shouting out, plosively. (It's "through the wall", anyway, if that's a 'through something' speech-bubble-originator-indicator (like the "THUMP"s are) rather than 'rather loudly' emphasis that I'd expect to be associated with Cueball. They are shown differently, with the non-THUMP indicator not really having the same appearance as all the other ones otherwise mentioned. Even in the very same panel.) Anyway, just my POV. Needs an Official Transcript to be sure, I suppose. 141.101.99.4 07:12, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- 108.162.250.155 and 108.162.229.123 are correct, the shouting is coming from outside the room. Randall/Cueball imagines he is hearing quiz titles "being shouted," he is not imagining shouting them himself. Pesthouse (talk) 11:56, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- Furthermore, "in order to make sure the one you let in is not some scary person but a merciful one" makes no sense because the Spice Girl in question is clearly meant to be the girl loading the gun behind the box. She's already in the room. 108.162.229.123 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- Hmm, or maybe not. I thought the hair was too different from Megan's usual style, but it could be her. So now I'm about 50/50 on this one. 108.162.229.123 12:28, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- There is no such character as Megan. Please see Megan. I quote ""Megan" does not necessarily always represent the same character from comic to comic. She is essentially the female equivalent of Cueball, representing the every-woman to his everyman.". 108.162.221.201 13:08, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- Furthermore, "in order to make sure the one you let in is not some scary person but a merciful one" makes no sense because the Spice Girl in question is clearly meant to be the girl loading the gun behind the box. She's already in the room. 108.162.229.123 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
- The little lines around the origin point of the speech "bubble" is usually used in XKCD to indicate that the sound is coming through the surface or offscreen (see Writers Strike (360) and Time Vulture (926)). -Pennpenn 108.162.250.155 06:52, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
I don't know much about the Spice Girls, but the comic seems to be referring to two; Is there a "merciful" Spice Girl? Is there one likely to "start a war"? And is there a "war" that is specifically to do with the Spice Girls? -141.101.106.95 08:01, 13 April 2015 (UTC) What about Camp Spice?? 173.245.50.103 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
The comic is clearly inventing new Spice Girls: the original Spice Girls didn't have a merciful one, or an evil one. 108.162.221.201 13:10, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- Disagree. In real life, there has not been a war started by ANY spice girl. This is clearly fantasy. It is just as likely that Randall is imagining the Spice Girls rise to power and in their newfound power, become associated with new traits (e.g. one is a merciful and one starts a war - in Cueball's fantasy scenario, there are only two spice girls left, or two who could possibly be at the door). There is no basis to assume this is a reference to invented new spice girls.
- I also think that if Randall intended to have the quiz's answers make sense, it would have to be the latter, since the quiz won't have an "evil" or "merciful" spice. That said, given Randall's comment about needing to make the link titles less irritating, it's unlikely he would actually do the quiz. He just wants to be less annoyed while skimming his, Facebook feed (for example) TheHYPO (talk) 14:33, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
- You are wrong when you say 'the quiz won't have an "evil" or "merciful" spice'. Here you can see Baby Mummy, Sporty Mummy, Scary Mummy, Posh Mummy, Ginger Mummy, and also Old Mummy, Oracle Mummy, Supercalifragalistic Mummy, Drop and Run Mummy, Hover Mummy, Boring Mummy, Disaster Zone Mummy, and Baby Factory Mummy. 108.162.221.201 17:15, 13 April 2015 (UTC)
Why are we all ignoring the fact that this is not just this quiz title? It extends to things like "Which Harry Potter Character are you?" and other stuff like that. The Goyim speaks (talk) 00:15, 14 April 2015 (UTC)
