Editing 290: Fucking Blue Shells

{{comic
| number    = 290
| date      = July 16, 2007
| title     = Fucking Blue Shells
| image     = fucking_blue_shells.png
| titletext = You can evade blue shells in Double Dash, but it is deep magic.
}}

==Explanation==

Sometimes, something suddenly goes wrong, and you can only shout obscenities at it. For instance, when the dog bites, when the bee stings, something unexpected happens, or a program crashes (e.g. a {{w|Segmentation fault|segfault}}), the victim often reacts by swearing.

For [[Randall]], however, profanities are caused mostly by {{w|blue shell}}s in the video game {{w|Mario Kart}}. The blue shells, when fired, target the player currently in first place and stop them cold. In a close game near the end of the race, a player can go from first to an unrecoverable last in one hit. 

The title text refers to the "{{w|Mario_Kart:_Double_Dash!!|Double Dash}}" installment of Mario Kart. This includes a technique to avoid being hit by a blue shell, but it requires skillful timing to accomplish.  The term "{{w|deep magic}}" comes from computer programmer slang. Interestingly, with a boost mushroom in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 8 (and the so-called "Super-Horn" in the latter), it is also possible (with accurate timing) to escape blue shells.

==Transcript==
:My Profanity Usage By Cause:
:[A pie chart is shown.]
:[Injury is about 2.5% of pie chart.]
:[Irony is about 2.5% of pie chart.]
:[Misc is about 2.5% of pie chart.]
:[Segfaults is about 10% of pie chart.]
:[Mario Kart is about 82.5% of pie chart.]

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Pie charts]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Video games]]
[[Category:Mario Kart]]