Editing 1419: On the Phone

{{comic
| number    = 1419
| date      = September 10, 2014
| title     = On the Phone
| image     = on_the_phone.png
| titletext = 'No idea what I was thinking! Haha! But anyway, maybe we should check out what this Ba'al guy has to say.'
}}

==Explanation==
{{w|Fidgeting}} while talking on the telephone is a very common habit and may manifest as doodling or pacing. In the case of the person speaking off-panel (presumably [[Cueball]]), he paces while absent-mindedly moving random objects around the house. Taking this behavior to the extreme, he has also erected an {{w|obelisk}} in the backyard and carved prayers to "Ba'al, the Soul Eater" on it. This may be a reference to the saying "Idle hands are the devil's playthings."

The title text suggests that the "fidgeting" is just a cover story - the off-panel speaker is actually worshipping (or possessed by) Ba'al, and is casually trying to encourage Megan to do the same. 

Ba'al, or {{w|Baal_(disambiguation)|Baal}}, refers to one of many deities and demons which go by this name. Given its title "The Soul Eater", it probably refers to {{w|Beelzebub}} (one of the {{w|Classification_of_demons#Binsfeld.27s_classification_of_demons|seven princes of hell}}). Ba'al was previously referenced in the title text of [[1246: Pale Blue Dot]] with the similar epithet "the Eater of Souls".

==Transcript==
[Megan is pointing off-panel to the left and looking off-panel to the right.]
: Megan: Why is there a teapot in the bathroom?
: Off-panel voice (right): Sorry. When I'm on the phone I always zone out and pick stuff up and carry it around.
[Megan is in front of an open fridge, holding a hammer.]
: Megan: There's a hammer in the fridge.
: Off-panel voice: Another phone call. I was just fidgeting.
[Megan is walking next to four stacks of household objects: the first has a lightbulb on top of a book, the second has a blender on top of three books, the third has five books (two balanced vertically) with a smaller rectangular object on top, and the fourth has two tennis balls on top of three books]
: Megan: Did you put all our stuff in weird stacks?
: Off-panel voice: Long call. Sorry.
[Megan, outside, looks up at a towering straight-sided object]
: Megan: ...Why is there a giant obelisk in the backyard?
: Off-panel voice: Phone again. My bad.
: Megan: It's carved with prayers to "Ba'al, the Soul-Eater."
: Off-panel voice: Haha! I'm so absentminded.

==Trivia==
This comic is similar to [[1765: Baby Post]], But there the daughter probably wasn't a cover story.
{{comic discussion}}