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The SilentONGs – or MysteryONGs or t1i – are a webcomic which uses the same format as xkcd: 1190 Time. They are a fan-made sequel to Time, consisting of 1414 individual images (frames).

The frames can be viewed at or downloaded from mscha's server together with the other TimeAfterTime stories. The files which belong to the SilentONGs have the prefix “t1i-”. In addition, balthasar_s is providing a blueenhanced version (and also a viewer) which distends the colours in the images to make some details visible for the naked eye.

The SilentONGs started to appear on mscha's server on 17 Nov 2013, 00:00 UTC and got posted to the OTT by newpixbot, starting on NP1617 (Mirror). Their origin was unknown, so they were named MysteryONGs.

On 31 Jan 2014 (Mirror), after 452 frames had gone online, the author delurked in the OTT. After that, the MystersONGs got renamed to “SilentONGs” after their author SilentTimer. The author's original title for the story is t1i.

The SilentONGs tell the fate of The Fourty after the flood. Instead of involving OTT culture, the author attaches great importance to stay true to GLR's storytelling, creating a compelling sequel to Time.

Like in Time, the names of the characters are never mentioned. All names used in this explanation have been coined in the OTT or in the Explain xkcd wiki.

Also like in Time, the frames have a title (mouseover) text which changes from time to time. It starts with “Wait for it.”.

SPOILER ALERT

The following text will tell you the plot of the SilentONGs and other details. If you prefer to enjoy the suspense of plot details revealed frame by frame, don't read on here.

The Plot[]

The story begins at a slope with vegetation at an unknown location. On the left, something which appears to be a stone at first view, turns out as a rabbit which hops away to the left. Shortly after a bearded Beanie enters the scene from the right. He says some Beanish words to a person (off-screen) following him, gets an answer, and walks on to the left, leaving the scene.

Xkcd-time-mscha-t1ipan144

animation of the pan (by mscha)

Xkcd-time-mscha-t1ipan144d

differences between subsequent frames in the pan, uncovering the molpies (by mscha)

Next, the camera pans right, and two Beanies carrying bags enter the scene from the right, pick up a tripod with a telescope, and leave to the left. After that the camera slowly pans to the right. Several molpies cross the frames from left to right. Finally, the image stops panning and shows the sea rapidly rising before culminating in a huge wave washing a large amount of vegetation away. The boat of The Forty appears and it turns out that this series is set at the same time as T** **d of Time. Several frames from the OTC are then duplicated.

The Forty find a place in the trees to settle and build yurts.

Megan and Cueball examine the place and set out to investigate “who else lives here” and climb a mountain. They discover that the air is thinner than what they are accustomed to. (They have lived about 3000m below sea level before the flood.) They encounter a “snake” which can blink (identified as a slow worm on NP2021 (Mirror)), several birds, and a stick insect. Megan and Cueball conclude that they are going mad but proceed towards the top, nevertheless.

On the top of the mountain they find a cairn and discover that they are on a small island – much smaller than what Megan had derived from the maps she had stolen from the Beanie Leader. They take a break and try to build a sandcastle but don't succeed until they support it using stones from the cairn. Between those stones, they discover a piece of paper(?). Comparing it the the maps, Megan determines their location: They are on a small island in the neighbourhood of a much bigger one. They plan to move to the bigger island before they run out of resources on the small island.

An interlude shows the mountain from the other (sea?) side through a telescope. Some unknown observers say some Beanish words which have been translated to “Castle?” – “Castle.” on NP1731 (Mirror).

Megan and Cueball proceed to the top of a second mountain where they find another cairn which contains another piece of paper(?). By comparing it to the maps, Megan confirms their theory about their location. From the top they can see a “broken castle” and a Beanish observation tower. They decide to descend there, confident that they will meet friendly people. They also try to remember what they know about the Beanish language.

Another interlude shows La Petite at the beach, coming from the forest, carrying a long, unidentified object, and entering the raft on the left.

(To be continued. Wait for it.)

The Meaning of “t1i”[]

The meaning of the title t1i has been revealed as “Time 1 + i” by ggh on NP2099 (Mirror). There was a discussion on NP2100 where the author gave the following explanation:

Yes, Time 1 + i, with a complex number. “The imaginary Time 2”.
My intention was to write a sequel to Time, so it's natural name would have been “Time 2”. However since I'm pretending to be not the GLR, I cannot simply add 1 to Time; the only thing I can do is to use my imagination to go one step beyond Time. So GLR went from “Time 0” (Time doesn't exist) to “Time 1” (the original Time); I went one step in the (orthogonal) imaginary direction to produce “Time 1 + i”. :)

See also[]

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