https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=172.70.250.249&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T04:41:19ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=2579:_Tractor_Beam&diff=2268252579: Tractor Beam2022-02-09T18:59:00Z<p>172.70.250.249: /* Explanation */ resolve conflict</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 2579<br />
| date = February 9, 2022<br />
| title = Tractor Beam<br />
| image = tractor_beam.png<br />
| titletext = Did you base the saucer shape on pop culture depictions of aliens, or was that stuff based on your ships? Does the rotational symmetry help with ... hey, where are you going?<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|Created by AN ANNOYING CUEBALL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
Cueball is being pulled into a spaceship by a beam of light, called a "{{w|tractor beam}}" by Randall. This is a common trope in science fiction, and usually pretty scary for the person involved. However, while Cueball is being pulled up, he asks a series of questions about the beam, about the force on the ship, and about the ship itself. The punch line is the caption - the aliens, frustrated by Cueball's questioning, release him and move on, to presumably find a different human to kidnap and study.<br />
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As the ship leaves, Cueball continues asking questions, as shown in the title text.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}<br />
:[A flying saucer is hovering over some generally flat terrain, with a few rocks and hills in the background. A beam of light is pulling Cueball up towards the ship.]<br />
:Cueball: Does this beam only lift me? How do you avoid pulling up dirt and leaves and stuff? If I kick off my shoes, will they fall?<br />
:Cueball: Is my weight pulling your ship downward? What will happen if a bat flies through the beam?<br />
:Cueball: Hey, why does your ship have those blinky lights? Are they...<br />
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:[Caption below the panel:]<br />
:Moments later, the aliens set me back down and left.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Aliens]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]</div>172.70.250.249https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2578:_Sword_Pull&diff=226769Talk:2578: Sword Pull2022-02-08T21:47:26Z<p>172.70.250.249: </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 was going to opine that the title text should have said "mini bike" instead of "dirt bike" since the former is usually started by a recoil pull rope and the latter by a kick start. But I guess technically neither one is started by a magic sword so kind of a toss up. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.126.221|172.70.126.221]] 22:48, 7 February 2022 (UTC)Pat<br />
:I know nothing of these machines but a quick google search brought me to [https://www.funbikes.co.uk/sc67_pull-start-parts this page] with three items listed as "Dirt Bike Pull Start" so seems that is a thing? --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 07:56, 8 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
There is a pun with dirt mound / mount.<br />
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Hope u like my explanation {{unsigned ip|172.70.110.151}}<br />
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I though the sword belongs to {{w|Lady of the Lake}} ... -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 23:29, 7 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
:The sword from the stone (proof of lineage/fate) really should be considered differently from the one from the lake ("strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government<sup> ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88DZhwKqHM4 Citation])</sup>", but they do tend to be conflated by some versions of the storytelling. The various myths were already that confused/contradictory/clashing centuries ago. (Some versions have Excalibur drawn from the stone to start his destiny, but ultimately then have him (...have a trusted but reluctant knight to) 'return' it to the Lady Of The Lake, from whence it presumably came (before being set in the stone), at the end of his life.)<br />
:But I choose to go with the strand of canon that says that the 'kingmaker' sword was separate, got broken in a personal combat he should not rightfully have fought, and that only after reparations for the incident was he directed to go receive Excalibur, as its replacement, from its watery source.<br />
:Really though, it probably is all a mistelling (and probably very Freudian, in every way!) of what never quite happened anyway. Except for the version where the time-traveller does the setting up of the contest with tidally-powered electromagnets and possibly an unintended recipient of the legend made true... ;) [[Special:Contributions/172.70.85.79|172.70.85.79]] 00:34, 8 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
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::I thought Lancelot (possibly one of the others?) received Excalibur as a proof of valor, and chose to pass it on to his king as a sign of respect; no longer the knight whose pride in his own virtue stops him bowing to a higher authority. Guess there's more versions than I know. ''Returning'' the sword I remember; but I thought he originally obtained it second hand, so the Lady accepting the sword back was the final proof that he had been worthy to have it. [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 02:03, 8 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
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:::Honestly, there are so many versions of the story, and so many unrelated stories merged into it, that it's probably impossible to identify the "canonical" version. Monty Python's version is no less valid than Geoffrey of Monmouth's. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.187.228|162.158.187.228]] 16:02, 8 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
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Merlin is a brand of motorcycle produced in Spain from 1980-1984. [[User:KingPenguin|KingPenguin]] ([[User talk:KingPenguin|talk]]) 01:36, 8 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
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:Wow, I heard of them but didn't realise the brand was so short-lived. [[User:Angel|Angel]] ([[User talk:Angel|talk]]) 02:03, 8 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
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"Dirt bike" could also be interpreted as an -apparently motorized- bike made of dirt. [[User:Condor70|Condor70]] ([[User talk:Condor70|talk]]) 16:25, 8 February 2022 (UTC)<br />
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Anyone else reminded of the weird moving rocks in Chronicles of Amber? The ones Random rode out of Chaos?<br />
I mean, the comic is probably not a reference to that (doesn't need to be in the explanation or anything), but still, similar vibe. [[Special:Contributions/172.70.250.249|172.70.250.249]] 21:47, 8 February 2022 (UTC)</div>172.70.250.249