Editing 1511: Spice Girl

{{comic
| number    = 1511
| date      = April 13, 2015
| title     = Spice Girl 
| image     = spice_girl.png
| titletext = Haha, you'll see!
}}
__NOTOC__
==Explanation==
===The Spice Girls===
The Spice Girls are a British pop girl group formed in 1994. It consists of five girls who each have a "spice girl" nickname. The five girls with their respective nicknames are:
*{{w|Mel B}} (MB) or "Scary Spice"
*{{w|Mel C}} (MC) or "Sporty Spice"
*{{w|Emma Bunton}} (Em) or "Baby Spice"
*{{w|Geri Halliwell}} (G) or "Ginger Spice"
*{{w|Victoria Beckham}} (V) or "Posh Spice"

Not too much later, in [[1554: Spice Girls]], he shows how difficult it is to remember these five names.

===The internet quiz===
This is one example of a trend of online quizzes that would "identify" the user with one person/personality of a group based on a series of personality questions. This will most often concern which member of a band, TV cast/film cast or character from books, etc. the quiz taker most resembles. In this comic it is specifically Spice girl quizzes that are the subject. In this comic, [[Randall]] is suggesting that in order to cope with what he probably considers to be irritating {{w|clickbait}} links to these quizzes, he imagines the link titles as ''being shouted through a door in a postapocalyptic dystopia''. This is a reference to a trope in movies set in such postapocalyptic settings (which Randall presumably enjoys more) in which the heroes must determine whether an unknown agent is friend or foe, which in some such media occurs by shouting through locked doors. It is not likely that Randall would actually complete these quizzes, but if he did in this fantasy setting, the stakes would be higher, and each answer would be fraught with dangerous meaning. It would thus also be much more fun taking the quiz and the result would seem to be important.

In Randall's fantasy dystopian future, the character who is subject of the dialogue may be one of two Spice Girls, described alternately as the one who is merciful and the one started the war (which likely resulted in the said dystopia). It is possible there are only two remaining Spice Girls, or that there are simply only two likely options in the particular circumstances of the comic. It is also unclear if Randall may be suggesting two fictional Spice Girls, or if in his fantasy future, two of the actual original Spice Girls fit the criteria mentioned. ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SQYLHWo8TA The Merciful One]'' could be a reference to the song with the same name by {{w|Zohar (band)|Zohar}}, another British music ensemble.

As a result of the way a speech line was drawn in this comic, there was initially ambiguity as to the source of the dialogue. The official transcript now states: "Terrified figure: WHICH SPICE GIRL ARE YOU?! The merciful one, or the one who started this war?". Cueball has been described as the "terrified figure", making it clear that it is indeed Cueball who shouts the line, and not the "cruel interloper" who pounds at the door. Randall often uses the four little lines at the source end of the speech line to denote sound coming from an unseen source. The quiz question is being shouted by an angry agent or crowd outside the door, presumably in reference to the female character seen in the comic. Presumably if she is "the one who started this war", the person(s) outside would be hostile toward her.

In this case, it looks like the female character (who otherwise appears to be a [[Hairbun]] character) does not have any intention of answering, and is preparing for when the people outside break down the door by loading her shotgun to defend herself. In this interpretation, [[#The title text|the title text]] is said by "Hairbun" Spice indicating that when they get through the door they will be in trouble.

Here are a few examples of "Which spice girl are you?" quizzes:
*[http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/which-spice-girl-are-you#.gbkv2p3jDX Buzzfeed]
*[http://www.zimbio.com/quiz/w-MjcRyEoFZ/Which+Spice+Girl+Are+You Zimbio]
*[http://www.brainfall.com/quizzes/which-spice-girl-are-you/ Brainfall]
*[http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_spice_girl_are_you GoToQuiz]

===The title text===
The title text refers to the [http://lyrics.wikia.com/Spice_Girls:Wannabe lyrics] from the Spice Girls' debut single, ''{{w|Wannabe (song)|Wannabe}}'' (Listen to ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ Wannabe on YouTube]'') Here below is the relevant excerpt from the song where the letters in the last four lines refer to the spice girls [[#The Spice Girls|as given above]]. This rap {{w|bridge (music)|bridge}} is sung by Scary Spice except for the line with Easy V which is sung by Ginger Spice:
:So here's a story from A to Z,
:You wanna get with me You gotta listen carefully
:We got Em in the place who likes it in your face
:You got G like MC who likes it on an
:Easy V doesn't come for free, she's a real lady
:And as for me, '''ha ha, you'll see'''

These lyrics function as a little introduction to the (then) less-well-known girl group. The final line takes on a threat-like tone in this new context of the comic. And it doesn't help that it is Scary Spice who sings it.

The text may seem a little confusing to understand, especially the line that finishes ''on an''. According to another lyrics-site, which also has [http://genius.com/3134866 explanations] to some parts of the text, it means that G and MC likes it (sex) together with {{w|MDMA|ecstasy}} - as "On an E" is slang for being on ecstasy (see it used in this [https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090518130834AA0QdJD discussion]). They could not sing this directly without resulting in a PG rating, thus they inserted the "E" in the next line as '''E'''asy V, a line which is even sung by another spice girl, Ginger spice, where the rest of this bridge is sung by Scary Spice.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is trying to barricade a door with his own body (although it already has a bar in front of it). He is in a room that is deteriorating with Hairbun who is loading a shotgun while sitting behind some sort of box.]
:Knocking on the door: '''Thump Thump'''
:Voice: '''Which Spice Girl are you?!'''
:Voice: The merciful one, or the one who started this war?

:[Caption below the frame:]
:When I see those quiz titles, I like to imagine they're being shouted through a door in a postapocalyptic dystopia.

==Trivia==
This is the first xkcd comic featuring the [[Spice Girls]].

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Clickbait]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Spice Girls]]