https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=162.158.154.35&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-28T12:27:41ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:415:_Restraining_Order&diff=197839Talk:415: Restraining Order2020-09-27T00:55:40Z<p>162.158.154.35: </p>
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<div>Looks like something [[Danish]] would do, not Ponytail.Classhole 00:31, 14 February 2013 (UTC)<br />
:Therein lies the problem with presuming "Ponytail" is a singular, consistent character, which she isn't, and never has been. It's kind of ridiculous to say something is out of character for Ponytails, Megans, or Cueballs (and probably White Hat), since they're rarely the same person.[[User:Pennpenn|Pennpenn]] ([[User talk:Pennpenn|talk]]) 02:02, 26 February 2014 (UTC)<br />
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Is "iconic" meant to be "ironic"? It is also not ironic, unless if the restraining order forces Cueball to be within 1 yard of Ponytail at all times which defeats the general purpose of a restraining order. [[User:Flewk|flewk]] ([[User talk:Flewk|talk]]) 12:08, 28 December 2015 (UTC)<br />
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Is this even legally possible? [[User:Prongs95|Prongs95]] ([[User talk:Prongs95|talk]]) 15:10, 22 February 2016 (UTC)<br />
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This is certainly not possible, just think of how much trouble it would cause.[[User:Dontknow|Dontknow]] ([[User talk:Dontknow|talk]]) 00:28, 8 March 2017 (UTC)<br />
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It's not *that* bad if Cueball is massive enough. But stuff gets really weird if Cueball's de Broglie wavelength is on the order of 100 yards... --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.54.4|172.68.54.4]] 16:20, 26 April 2017 (UTC)<br />
:I need another explain page for the comments. [[User:Netherin5|“That Guy from the Netherlands”]] ([[User talk:Netherin5|talk]]) 15:58, 3 April 2019 (UTC)<br />
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The Steven Wright line comes to mind about seeing a girl and wondering if there were an opposite to a restraining order.<br />
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I feel as if one could theoretically enforce a maximum distance. For example, if you had a restraining order (minimum distance) on your target and they were imprisoned and released on bail, they could not the leave the state, giving us our maximum distance. From there, especially in a tiny state like Rhode Island, you could slowly corner them in. Especially if this were to occur on a pennisula, they would be trapped, helpless to move except at your whim.<br />
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On the surface of a sphere, all distances are modulo the circumference of the sphere, so a minimum distance ''d'' is equivalent to a maximum distance ''circumference - d''. If ''d'' was large enough, it would imply a maximum distance even accounting for irregularities of the earth's surface, or one of the persons going on the ISS. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.35|162.158.154.35]] 00:55, 27 September 2020 (UTC)</div>162.158.154.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2364:_Parity_Conservation&diff=197838Talk:2364: Parity Conservation2020-09-26T23:55:19Z<p>162.158.154.35: </p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
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Would it be possible to mirror the light particles bouncing off a mirror in an experiment similar to what cueball is trying to do? [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]])<br />
:Not sure exactly what you are asking, but photons (and gluons, and Z-bosons, and if they exist, presumably gravitons) are their own anti-particle, so photons are the same regardless if the source is matter or antimatter. https://van.physics.illinois.edu/qa/listing.php?id=1153 for more info.[[Special:Contributions/173.245.52.187|173.245.52.187]] 04:25, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I'm also not exactly sure what you mean, but if you're asking about using a mirror to conduct an experiment in reality, the answer is no. Particles in our world will either pass through a mirror or reflect off of it. Either way, they're still in our world. Mirrors are of use when we want to see how reflection works (assuming the mirror reflects the particles concerned). The benefit to enlisting Bloody Mary's help here seems to be that she is located in another location inside or connected to the mirror, which is why she has to perform the measurements; the measurements can't be performed outside her secondary universe. The experiment here confirms whether her universe and our universe work in the same way. [[User:Nathan|Nathan]] ([[User talk:Nathan|talk]]) 06:39, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
::I guess what I'm trying to say is like, imagine the image on the mirror, but mirrored onto our side of the mirror, so you get a near 2d hologram. That was a terrible job of explaining, but maybe it offered some insight? [[User:Donthaveusername|Donthaveusername]] ([[User talk:Donthaveusername|talk]])<br />
: I don't understand physics very well, but my simplistic understanding is that the electric and magnetic field components of the photons that are normal to the surface of the mirror are indeed actually mirrored. I don't believe the orientation of the photons, like that filtered by 3d glasses to separate the eyes, is mirrored. I could be wrong. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.245|162.158.62.245]] 16:30, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:: The "orientation" you speak about is called polarization and I suspect mirror destroys it. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 18:53, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I am wary about "an entire anti-person would annihilate a normal person if they touch"-type stuff. It was a trope used in '60s cartoons that there'd be an anti-matter world and ''only'' representative being/item A and representative being/item anti-A touching would create mutual (or not, if even more laughably plot-driven in favour of one of them surviving) vanishing of both... And often with just vanish-in-smoke. Whereas we all know that ''any'' matter meeting ''any'' anti-matter (notwithstanding that 'all electrons and positrons are the same electron bouncing back and forth in time) will annihilate, and if the energies produced don't yet actively push the non-fingertip (or breath, or just space-suit glove on anti-spaceship airlock handle) counter-matters apart there's going to be ''more'' annihilation after the first fizzle. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.171|162.158.158.171]] 10:59, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Not just cartoons; see also the ST:TOS episode 'The Alternative Factor', 1967, which got the whole "antimatter", "individuals", "destroy the universe" stuff laughably, painfully wrong. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 15:14, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
::Although it's not technically the same thing, I found myself reminded of the climax of the movie ''TimeCop'' while I was adding that to the explanation. I don't think 100% of the matter and antimatter in two opposite-matter people would annihilate when they touch, because the contact surface is indeed quite small, but clarifying that went further into the technical weeds than I wanted to go. When a nuclear weapon goes off, for instance, not all of the fuel is consumed, but that detail is usually overshadowed by the explosion. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 16:28, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Using "overshadowed" for something accompanied by big amount of gamma radiation is funny. But yes, ANY antimatter annihilates ANY matter and if you touch hand of person from antimatter your hands annihilate but rest of you would likely be thrown in opposite direction and cooked by radiation. Assuming, of course, you are in vacuum, as otherwise either you or him would be annihilated by the (anti)air. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 18:53, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I've removed the stuff about "Dr. Edward Anti-Teller" and added a paragraph about the bad SF about antimatter people. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 20:16, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::::Fair enough, but I'll [https://telescoper.wordpress.com/tag/edward-teller/ post it here for posterity]. I first encountered this poem ages ago in a book called ''A Random Walk in Science''. It might be too trivial for the comic explanation, but it always makes me smile. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 23:19, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:::Timecop wasn't even antimatter, it was (supposedly) the ''same'' matter (which it wouldn't be, with lifetime elemental recycling through most bodily tissues, so it needs a form of Ship Of Theseus teleology built into the universe - close to being a 'soul'-based argument). And... It's been a while since I last saw it (not sure I ever saw the sequel that I expect they made), but didn't it not so much explode the person (both of them, in a laser-guided bit of plot-karma) as kind of mush them into a weird biofractal special-effect? More related to the critically damaged T1000 than anything with an E not far off the mc²ness of total matter-energy conversion. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.153|141.101.99.153]] 22:54, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
::::I saw it once, about 12 years ago, on VHS, and all I remember is Jean Clade Van Damme saying "same matter cannot occupy same space" as he pushes two copies of the same guy together and they turn into the stuff inside a lava lamp. I'm not exactly jumping at the chance to rewatch it. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 23:19, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I am skeptical that any joke about "party conversation" is intended. [[User:BunsenH|BunsenH]] ([[User talk:BunsenH|talk]]) 15:14, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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It looks like Randall has been exposed to a variant of this myth where bloody mary murders the person saying her name. This would explain the preceding comic about bloody Mary too: the ghost could be leaping to murder the person incanting their name. It would be good to add to the article a reference to this interpretation of the myth if anybody is excited about it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.245|162.158.62.245]] 16:30, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Ooohh, a comic about the same topic as my worldbuildingSE question, nice! https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/135950/32102 [[User:Fabian42|Fabian42]] ([[User talk:Fabian42|talk]]) 16:54, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I'm kind of doubtful of the interpretation that Cueball intends to "create a real Bloody Mary on his side of the mirror," since she'd then be in the same universe as he is and would get the same result if she does the same experiment. At the same time, this is one of the perils of having a wiki that exists purely to explain the jokes in a comic strip: The editors might not even agree what the joke ''is.'' I wonder if my childhood self would respect adult me after learning this is what I do with my free time on Saturday nights. [[User:Captain Video|Captain Video]] ([[User talk:Captain Video|talk]]) 23:38, 26 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:Saturday nights, Tuesday nights ''and'' Thursday nights... ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.35|162.158.154.35]] 23:55, 26 September 2020 (UTC)</div>162.158.154.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2363:_Message_Boards&diff=1976592363: Message Boards2020-09-24T02:46:21Z<p>162.158.154.35: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2363<br />
| date = September 23, 2020<br />
| title = Message Boards<br />
| image = message_boards.png<br />
| titletext = (c) You can have a scooter when you pay for it yourself, and (d) if you can't learn to start a new thread rather than responding to an old one, you'll be banned. [thread locked by moderator]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by Julian's kid in 2040, who wants a hover-scooter. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
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The joke of this comic lies in the dates of the forum posts and the (presumed) relation between the posters.<br />
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The initial post was made in 2000 by NIN85 who was, at the time, teenaged girl (likely 14-15 years old given her username ends in 85), complaining that her mother did not want her to get a {{w|Vespa}}. Vespa is brand of scooters and mopeds produced by the Italian manufacturer Piaggio. Most U.S. states require motorcycle licenses for any vehicle with an engine size over 50 cubic centimeters. Most Vespas are larger than this, although 49 CC models (classified as mopeds) do exist.<br />
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The reply was written in 2020 (twenty years later) by JULZ (or Julian), the son of the now-adult NIN85. "Julz" complains about his mother refusing to allow him to get an electric scooter, which doesn't require a licence. He is implicitly pointing out the hypocrisy of his mother, as a 15 year old, thinking that teenagers with scooters are perfectly reasonable, while as a 35 year old, being against the idea.<br />
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The humour derives partially from the fact that this isn't really hypocrisy: we expect teenaged viewpoints to evolve into mature adult viewpoints, and do not hold adults to promises made or beliefs held when they were teenagers. Humour also results from the unexpected situation of the child tracking down his mother's old forum post, and his mother still being active in the same niche forum 20 years later.<br />
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In the title text, the parent is apparently a {{w|Internet_forum#Moderators|mod}} on that board now, or at least can quickly twist the ear of an actual mod. (It is unclear whether she ever got her scooter and perhaps became a different kind of {{w|Mod_(subculture)|Mod}}.) She threatens banning if the kid does not learn to post a new thread for stuff like this instead of dredging up dead threads from years ago, a common complaint on message boards. The act of 'reviving long-dead threads' is often described as "necromancy", or "necroing", and some subforums may actually encourage tagging onto existing but idle discussions (to add new/updated information) rather than repeatedly creating new threads (that end up rehashing or linking all old information).<br />
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This 'necro' does not seem to be particularly informative, however, except as a curiosity. It's possible the motivation to lock this thread is more about hiding her hypocrisy from other users on the board than for the usual reason of letting dead threads stay dead, but a locked thread is usually still readable. It could easily be found and read by old and new forum-goers alike. Even, if not lost entirely by then, by a son or daughter (or sentient AI child-entity) of Julz in yet another twenty years. And they may even be able to have the discussion unlocked just to append their own topical teenage complaints against Julian the parent.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[View of the "MopedPro" forum on a message board.]<br />
::Forum Tab: '''''MopedPro Forum''''' (Top Left) | (4 tabs with illegible writing on them. None of them appear to be selected) (Top Right)<br />
:NIN85 (posted December 5, 2000): So mad that my mom won't let me get a Vespa. I'm old enough for a moped license and they're really not that dangerous.<br />
:JULZ (posted September 23, 2020): At least she's not stopping you from getting an electric scooter you don't even need a license for<br />
:NIN85 (posted September 23, 2020): Okay, Julian, (A) you know we talked about this, and (B) how the heck did you find this thread<br />
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:Subtitle: I love that message boards are now old enough for this to happen.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Social networking]]</div>162.158.154.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2363:_Message_Boards&diff=1976582363: Message Boards2020-09-24T02:43:58Z<p>162.158.154.35: /* Explanation */ Came for the Mod bit, left after adding other thoughts and refinements.</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2363<br />
| date = September 23, 2020<br />
| title = Message Boards<br />
| image = message_boards.png<br />
| titletext = (c) You can have a scooter when you pay for it yourself, and (d) if you can't learn to start a new thread rather than responding to an old one, you'll be banned. [thread locked by moderator]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by Julian's kid in 2040, who wants a hover-scooter. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
<br />
The joke of this comic lies in the dates of the forum posts and the (presumed) relation between the posters.<br />
<br />
The initial post was made in 2000 by NIN85 who was, at the time, teenaged girl (likely 14-15 years old given her username ends in 85), complaining that her mother did not want her to get a {{w|Vespa}}. Vespa is brand of scooters and mopeds produced by the Italian manufacturer Piaggio. Most U.S. states require motorcycle licenses for any vehicle with an engine size over 50 cubic centimeters. Most Vespas are larger than this, although 49 CC models (classified as mopeds) do exist.<br />
<br />
The reply was written in 2020 (twenty years later) by JULZ (or Julian), the son of the now-adult NIN85. "Julz" complains about his mother refusing to allow him to get an electric scooter, which doesn't require a licence. He is implicitly pointing out the hypocrisy of his mother, as a 15 year old, thinking that teenagers with scooters are perfectly reasonable, while as a 35 year old, being against the idea.<br />
<br />
The humour derives partially from the fact that this isn't really hypocrisy: we expect teenaged viewpoints to evolve into mature adult viewpoints, and do not hold adults to promises made or beliefs held when they were teenagers. Humour also results from the unexpected situation of the child tracking down his mother's old forum post, and his mother still being active in the same niche forum 20 years later.<br />
<br />
In the title text, the parent is apparently a {{w|Internet_forum#Moderators|mod}} on that board now, or at least can quickly twist the ear of an actual mod. (It is unclear whether she ever got her scooter and perhaps became a different kind of {{w|Mod_(subculture)|Mod}}.) She threatens banning if the kid does not learn to post a new thread for stuff like this instead of dredging up dead threads from years ago, a common complaint on message boards. The act of 'reviving long-dead threads' is often described as "necromancy", or "necroing", and some subforums may actually encourage tagging onto existing but idle discussions (to add new/updated information) rather than repeatedly creating new threads (that end up rehashing or linking all old information).<br />
<br />
This 'necro' does not seem to be particularly informative, however, except as a curiosity. It's possible the motivation to lock this thread is more about hiding her hypocrisy from other users on the board than for the usual reason of letting dead threads stay dead, but a locked thread is usually still readable. It could easily be found and read by old and new forum-goers alike. Even, if not lost entirely by then, by a son or daughter (or sentient AI child-entity) of Julz in yet another twenty years. And they may even be able to have the discussion unlocked just to append their own teenage complaints against Julian the parent.<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[View of the "MopedPro" forum on a message board.]<br />
::Forum Tab: '''''MopedPro Forum''''' (Top Left) | (4 tabs with illegible writing on them. None of them appear to be selected) (Top Right)<br />
:NIN85 (posted December 5, 2000): So mad that my mom won't let me get a Vespa. I'm old enough for a moped license and they're really not that dangerous.<br />
:JULZ (posted September 23, 2020): At least she's not stopping you from getting an electric scooter you don't even need a license for<br />
:NIN85 (posted September 23, 2020): Okay, Julian, (A) you know we talked about this, and (B) how the heck did you find this thread<br />
<br />
:Subtitle: I love that message boards are now old enough for this to happen.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
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[[Category:Social networking]]</div>162.158.154.35https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2360:_Common_Star_Types&diff=197335Talk:2360: Common Star Types2020-09-18T00:12:04Z<p>162.158.154.35: </p>
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<div><!--Please sign your posts with ~~~~ and don't delete this text. New comments should be added at the bottom.--><br />
I'm thinking a table (Name, appearance, summary, ¿is real?, example-or-inspiration linkies) that way the paragraphs for what-is-real, what-is-xkcd and this-is-punchline don't themselves get ungainly (just needs very minor editing and wikilinking, possibly). And apols again to the first explained who seemed to appreciate their submission as only a placeholder so I overwrote rather than integrated. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.171|162.158.158.171]] 22:37, 16 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eta_Carinae&oldid=978789727] remained on Wikipedia for all of six minutes :/ [[Special:Contributions/162.158.62.149|162.158.62.149]] 23:40, 16 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Ten minutes, surely? [[User:Lightcaller|Lightcaller]] ([[User talk:Lightcaller|talk]]) 01:55, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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[https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jda.2017.10.005 Wat.] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20200917015430/https://openreview.net/pdf?id=SJgdPcVDPS Full text here.]) [[User:Lightcaller|Lightcaller]] ([[User talk:Lightcaller|talk]]) 01:55, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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And of course Brad Pitt is a star of yet another type... [[Special:Contributions/108.162.215.188|108.162.215.188]] 04:53, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Re Beige Gorgon, this is the average colour of the universe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_latte<br />
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Note that Fe<sup>II</sup> spectral lines actually refer to signs of Fe<sup>+</sup> ions (neutral is 'I', every ionisation level above that adds 1) but I can't see it mattering to anyone who doesn't read this far and it'd certainly have Fe<sup>III</sup> lines as well for 2+, or maybe I'm confused myself, so I supported the (chemistry) Ferrous association in the description with a link while I was editing nearby. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.158.19|162.158.158.19]] 09:45, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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My opinion: I'm kinda getting bored of this types of comics here - listing some real scientific stuff and some made up. There's been a lot of them, and they seem repetitive - no real new humor. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.103.125|162.158.103.125]] 11:30, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:YMMV? Looking at the last 100, if I include a very broad justification for inclusion I get just 20% one could say are 'this type', but sub-10% (with [[2351]] the most recent) if I am more realistic about comparison. And I generally like them, but each to their own. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.32|162.158.159.32]] 14:10, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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...[https://inkbunny.net/s/1448946 Teal] [https://www.furaffinity.net/view/29652825/ Sp][https://theartofmtg.tumblr.com/post/54153978749/isperia-supreme-judge-by-scott-m-fischer hi][https://www.magic-ville.com/fr/carte_art?ref=10m073 nx]? :P [[Special:Contributions/172.69.63.201|172.69.63.201]] 14:44, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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Question: What is the style guide for British vs. American Spelling (e.g., Color vs. Colour) in explain xkcd? I've seen quite a bit of that on this page. If it comes down to a vote, I think that we should stick with American spelling in general, because Randall is American. [[User:Argis13|Argis13]] ([[User talk:Argis13|talk]]) 18:05, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I believe the wiki standard is "consistency within an article" usually according to how the original contributors set it, where there isn't another factor (like direct quotation). Though before now I've seen perfectly consistent non-US spellings being (incompletely) systematically Americanized over an Anglicised (but possibly just Commonwealth/acceptible-everywhere-but-the-US) original. I don't think Johnson vs. Webster has yet arisen in a 'bracket' comic (or perhaps Merriam-Webster/OED to be actually current) so I don't know we can claim language-lover Randall ''automatically'' claims home-turf advantage. ;) [[Special:Contributions/162.158.159.32|162.158.159.32]] 19:46, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
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I wonder if the indigo banshee isn't referring to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo_children indigo children][[Special:Contributions/172.69.34.60|172.69.34.60]] 23:30, 17 September 2020 (UTC)<br />
:I imagine not. Sometimes a hue is just a hue. But now I think I know where the idea of the {{w|Time_(Baxter_novel)|Blue Children}} came from, in another unrelated thing. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.154.35|162.158.154.35]] 00:12, 18 September 2020 (UTC)</div>162.158.154.35