1190: "Time"

[Kethrook]

Did anybody have the foresight to screencap the earlier versions of the comic? I've only seen one where one is laying and the other standing and the current one with the man kneeling and the girl in the castle. I don't know how many there have been.

[candybrie4zo]

Did anybody have the foresight to screencap the earlier versions of the comic? I've only seen one where one is laying and the other standing and the current one with the man kneeling and the girl in the castle. I don't know how many there have been.

Here is the gif someone made which has most of the frames.

Bumping the Gif

[TheMulattoMaker]

Okay, now they're admiring the awesomeness they've created.

I'm thinkin' next they build a moat. With, like, alligators and stuff.

[JordanTheProgrammer]

They're admiring their castle http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/time/50adf5 ... ffb40d.png

[JordanTheProgrammer]

It's going to turn into a massive sand FORTRESS!! Called it

[AluisioASG]

Yet another theory:

Spoiler:

Randall is just trying to compensate for the recent late comics.

EDIT: I also wonder if there is a beach on Click-and-Drag.

[zerker2000]

If it's of interest to anybody, the tiny text at the bottom with his regular "The algorithm..." stuff has a new line of encrypted code at the top. Current line reads "BTC 14FHqYSgAi39CEJksUJJsK8JzJzyqFpLVk"

This hasn't updated since the last image. I'm not just noticing this, am I?

It's actually been around for a while.

[Aubron]

Alright guys! Bit the bullet and went ahead and automated http://xkcd.aubronwood.com proper. Should update five after the hour and 35 after, with a double check at :15 and :45 in case of server hiccups.

Good night all, and thanks to everyone who's sent me feedback and thanks via my website.

PS: If it breaks, figure out what comic it was supposed to throw up there, and PM me the link for when I wake up and scold it.

[faunablues]

I love how everyone is coming up with completely crazy theories from just two people sitting on a beach, and then building a sandcastle. Everything from the strip ending, to Randall is dying, to Randall's SO is dying, to they're expecting, to they've fucking miscarried...

Yeah it's all quite silly. Not just as a matter of voyeuristically speculating about the author's life, but because people are grasping at straws to squeeze personal meeting out of a comic of two people building a sandcastle.

Oh no, I know what it all means. You see a sandcastle is simultaneously a creation and a fortress built by these two people. Therefore it clearly represents Randall's home. And the water that has risen by three pixels is probably an ocean, a force of nature, which will inevitably rise and destroy the sandcastle. Guys, it is clear: Randall is telling us his house has been destroyed in a flood. Or maybe broken into. Or both.
Or maybe, since the ocean is a force of nature but often a metaphor for a maternal life source, it represents his mother. I've got it figured out. His mother has destroyed his house. And also disapproves of his girlfriend.
Brilliant work, Randall. It totally makes sense that you would communicate this slowly through a cryptic comic for a handful of us to decipher, instead of stating major life news in a straightforward way as usual.

[TheNerdMeister]

I love how everyone is coming up with completely crazy theories from just two people sitting on a beach, and then building a sandcastle...Of course, this is the same crowd that takes every event in the comics that's at all romantic or contemplative and assumes it's based on Randall's life. And then often accuses Randall of not being creative enough, or abusing his real-life situation for comics/traffic, or suchlike...AFAIK Randall has never said what his SO's name is... he keeps his personal life pretty private. Which is entirely his prerogative.

Randall is a real person, remember. Not just some character. And so's his SO. Even if they rarely visits the forums and probably won't see it, it's stil fucking creepy to be making with the endless speculation and fanon-theories and fan-fiction stories about real people.

Sheesh... Here's they party-pooper. No one (Hopefully) is truly saying that these theories are true. Like I said, people have fun guessing at hidden meaning, it's why poets exist.

And what of the coders who are trying to figure out what the future pictures will be based on code? Are they not as bad as the poetry-analysts doing the same thing with meaning?

Leave the Poetry-fans to their speculation of meaning and the Coding-fans to their speculation of code.

[goldenegg]

Wow ... so many theories in here, which are all extremely reaching.

It reminds me of a film class I sat in on, back in my university days. The class was given the task of shooting 5 minutes of video. It could be absolutely anything they wanted. My friend, who was in the class, left the assignment to the last minute and ended up filming an escalator at a mall for 5min. When he finished showing the video in the class, people started spewing the craziest theories as to what the video meant. "It was a reflection of life, how we get on at one place and off at another" "The child stepping on the escalator after the old man showed the circle of life" etc ....

In regards to this strip, I'm pretty much expecting the tide to come in. This couple spent all this time building something, which is about to simply be swept away with the passage of time. I highly doubt there's anything more deep to it than that.

[JordanTheProgrammer]

Has anyone noticed how Randal is being conservative with the sand. I think they will use all the sand on screen to make a massive sand castle.

[TheNerdMeister]

I love how everyone is coming up with completely crazy theories from just two people sitting on a beach, and then building a sandcastle. Everything from the strip ending, to Randall is dying, to Randall's SO is dying, to they're expecting, to they've fucking miscarried...

Yeah it's all quite silly. Not just as a matter of voyeuristically speculating about the author's life, but because people are grasping at straws to squeeze personal meeting out of a comic of two people building a sandcastle.

Oh no, I know what it all means. You see a sandcastle is simultaneously a creation and a fortress built by these two people. Therefore it clearly represents Randall's home. And the water that has risen by three pixels is probably an ocean, a force of nature, which will inevitably rise and destroy the sandcastle. Guys, it is clear: Randall is telling us his house has been destroyed in a flood. Or maybe broken into. Or both.
Or maybe, since the ocean is a force of nature but often a metaphor for a maternal life source, it represents his mother. I've got it figured out. His mother has destroyed his house. And also disapproves of his girlfriend.
Brilliant work, Randall. It totally makes sense that you would communicate this slowly through a cryptic comic for a handful of us to decipher, instead of stating major life news in a straightforward way as usual.

Be careful with sarcasm on the internet, it cannot be as easily interpreted as in real-life, genius.

[xyzzyzzyzx]

hi! I'm just another one of the many people who registered to say how amazing this comic is. I've been following it diligently for the past few hours while attempting to do schoolwork. I'm not trying to find any meaning- I'm easily entertained I guess, because a couple very slowly building a sandcastle is enough for me. I squeaked when the mounds they were making first started turning into a little sand fortress (I got here when they had already built the first tower). I really hope they keep expanding it into a sand empire or something, but whatever happens, this comic has definitely made my night better.

[mexaboy]

The water has not risen, as I said before.

[candybrie4zo]

I love how everyone is coming up with completely crazy theories from just two people sitting on a beach, and then building a sandcastle. Everything from the strip ending, to Randall is dying, to Randall's SO is dying, to they're expecting, to they've fucking miscarried...

Yeah it's all quite silly. Not just as a matter of voyeuristically speculating about the author's life, but because people are grasping at straws to squeeze personal meeting out of a comic of two people building a sandcastle.

Oh no, I know what it all means. You see a sandcastle is simultaneously a creation and a fortress built by these two people. Therefore it clearly represents Randall's home. And the water that has risen by three pixels is probably an ocean, a force of nature, which will inevitably rise and destroy the sandcastle. Guys, it is clear: Randall is telling us his house has been destroyed in a flood. Or maybe broken into. Or both.
Or maybe, since the ocean is a force of nature but often a metaphor for a maternal life source, it represents his mother. I've got it figured out. His mother has destroyed his house. And also disapproves of his girlfriend.
Brilliant work, Randall. It totally makes sense that you would communicate this slowly through a cryptic comic for a handful of us to decipher, instead of stating major life news in a straightforward way as usual.

Be careful with sarcasm on the internet, it cannot be as easily interpreted as in real-life, genius.

Your sarcasm was much more subtle than theirs.

[BHSPitMonkey]

I've set up a viewer with a slider thingy you can use to scrub forward and backward through the images here (append to reddit's base URL):

/r/xkcd/comments/1b0njp/another_way_of_browsing_through_the_images_from/

I'm currently working on adding the last few images and setting up a cron job to add new ones to the list as they come out.

[blowfishhootie]

I never read his blog and had assumed he announced the cancer there first, my mistake. But that still doesn't make it any less creepy to suddenly speculate about a miscarriage when there's actually nothing to suggest it.

[mattmo10587]

And then the tide will come and wash away the castle, etc.

Unless they're at a lake and not an ocean.

[AluisioASG]

Is it over?
a790d74849afdba2bc7f1781ea6fca9fb62b57d46912b14c40d777843d493f1f.png

[free-bee]

What!? I was not expecting such a twist.

[zk2556]

I do believe we are being screwed with.

[Jamaican Castle]

I dunno about "creepy", but it is getting into the territory of #799 - reading way too much into what's basically an innocuous reference. I mean, sometimes artists just have an idea that looks pretty, without it needed to stand for some kind of tangible trauma or joy.

Sometimes a sand castle really is just a sand castle...

[JordanTheProgrammer]

Wait for it.

[mishka]

It ended with "later, bye"

...
I bet in an hour the tides will wash it away.
In any case, we've been trolled.

[candybrie4zo]

I kind of hope its not over. It was definitely a fun experience if it is. I loved reading about people trying to figure out it worked and if they could crack the code. And other people getting frustrated with them because they couldn't just watch. It's a good thing he made it basically impossible in the amount of time haha. I liked having a reason to check back every half hour. But I'd kind of like it to keep going.

I guess we have to wait and see.

[Assassine]

Inb4 divorce speculations.


Seriously though, this was unexpected.

[Exkakx]

Wow. I wonder if it will keep going.

[Djehutynakht]

Now shall that be all? Or will more come along?

[HagarTopeka1]

Holy cow, I think you called it.

id say

Spoiler:

they leave, another couple comes, smashes the castle, and lays down. Repeat.

edit: Nevermind; I forgot that it updates at midnight EST. I was really hoping for a loop.

[Exkakx]

If that's the end, the comic will look quite strange to anyone who didn't see it earlier.

[***]

They spent way too long on that fuckin sandcastle

[Assassine]

I intended to go to sleep after this panel, but now i just cant without seeing if theres another.
This already kept me awake for way too long. Love it.

[Randall]

Tomorrow's what if xkcd: how many forum posts can be accumulated by posting a well encrypted and suspenseful comic

[Assassine]

next ones up

/comics/time/427f9bc8bd184356928562515d420ad9e96a1189043c812c4ba8e1bbb6080ffa.png

she looks sad

[AluisioASG]

Not over yet!

[KarMann]

I'd say it looks like she's looking at that corner that fell off & was fixed, rather than just looking downward sadly.

[Randall]

Tomorrow's what if xkcd: how many posts can be accumulated by a well encrypted and suspenseful comic

[crawlkill]

Of course, this is the same crowd that takes every event in the comics that's at all romantic or contemplative and assumes it's based on Randall's life.

I don't know what the culture of this board is like, but he has made, like, a dozen fucking comics about the whole breast cancer thing, and clearly often writes from shit going on in his own head. It's not unreasonable to see a slow-reveal understated comic bubbling with impermanence imagery as something personal.

Reading specific events into it is a little weird, but taking it seriously as something heartfelt is entirely in the spirit of xkcd generally. Do you go back and look at http://xkcd.com/170/ and say 'oh, it's just a couple people in a Seuss landscape?' Or do you think about where its author was and had been to create something like that?

[M.B.Giles]

This is the most amazing thing. *is late to the party*

I agree, I don't think it's wrong to assume some of the comics are related to Randall's life. This could be one of them. We won't know for sure until the end of it. Every author inserts some amount of themselves into their work. It's our interpretations that will differ... For example, this could all be an evil social experiment about patience.