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Better than the maid outfit, but still not "pants".

0 (0%)

She just got out of robot jail, and that's the best he can say?

2 (4.4%)

You just SHOWED UP! And I'm KIND OF in the middle of something!

0 (0%)

Managed to seal the deal, huh? Nice. Fist bump. I got fists now. Bump 'em.

3 (6.7%)

Got a real physical body and everything! So, can I crash here?

0 (0%)

L-look, they got a halfway house, but it's like a ####in' broom closet.

0 (0%)

Find a job, not break any rules, see probation officer... Just gimme a chance. Please.

0 (0%)

You pay rent. You help clean. And if you do or say ANYTHING to hurt Marigold -

3 (6.7%)

Creating Nice_List.txt. Entering "Marigold." Saving and closing.

8 (17.8%)

Y-you can't let here stay HERE! (Stomp Stomp Stomp SLAM)

0 (0%)

Dammit May... I'll talk to her, I'll talk to her.

0 (0%)

IF YOU MAKE THIS ANY WORSE -

0 (0%)

NICE LIST DOT TEE EX TEE, ASSPLOW

12 (26.7%)

Look, if you're worried I'm gonna steal Dale from you, I promise that ain't gonna happen. Ugh.

0 (0%)

Why should I trust you?

0 (0%)

I'm the one who got him to talk to you that night you were freakin' out on him at your place.

0 (0%)

If it wasn't for me, you two would still be pretend-hating each other.

0 (0%)

I AM THE REASON YOU TWO ARE CURRENTLY BONING. (Okay! Okay!)

17 (37.8%)

Total Members Voted: 44

[94ssd]

Dale can help May find a job. Any of the crummy part-time jobs he ditched, for starters.

Well, definitely NOT at the pizza place.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Sheesh. I hand you guys a perfect straight line and you drop it...

[Neko_Ali]

Terrible! (there, do you feel better now?)

[jwhouk]

How does an Anthro PC smell?

Terrible if they don't clean the synthetic skin covering on a regular basis.


EDIT: Damit, Neko.

[Soulsynger]

So I may be spooned and spoilered by El Goonish Shive's free provision of reference links because I REALLY need one for whatever May's talking about here. °O

Sidenote: Does it amuse anyone else that May's interior of the mouth seems to be brightly lit? 

[pwhodges]

Now we know what May is like when she's being nice.

All the subtlety of a blunderbuss.

[Pilchard123]

So, was May just assuming they're doing more than necking these days, or does she have some other source of info?

Was it ever specifically stated that she no longer had access to Dales glasses? Even if she was no longer able/required to be his "maid" she may have been able to use them as a window to the outside world.

Seems relevant:

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20110318

[jwhouk]

So I may be spooned and spoilered by El Goonish Shive's free provision of reference links because I REALLY need one for whatever May's talking about here. °O

Start with comic 2506 and read on.

[bhtooefr]

If that's what you get from being on nicelist.txt I'd hate to see what she'd do if you're on her hitlist.txt.

Actually might be hitlist.xls. It's so large that the organization tools are helpful.

Excel.

Is not.

A database.

USE hitlist;
SELECT * FROM victims;

(And there's more than the backscroll...)

[Ben]

So I may be spooned and spoilered by El Goonish Shive's free provision of reference links because I REALLY need one for whatever May's talking about here. °O

Sidenote: Does it amuse anyone else that May's interior of the mouth seems to be brightly lit? 

It may be an Anthro/AI thing; Momo's mouth seems to be pink inside to match her hair. Robot Saleswoman in Pintsize's story had a mouth like May; the two in the Idoru outlet (Charlotte and Leda?) had natural skin colour, pink mouths like Momo and visible articulation, unlike Momo who only appears to have a visible joint around the neck

[T]

I'm gonna steal Dale from you

So human-robot romantic relationship are confirmed to exist?

[GarandMarine]

So, who'd buy the "I AM THE REASON YOU TWO ARE BONING" t-shirt?

It's not quite as awesome as my "I saved someone else's marriage by getting a blow job" shirt, but it's both a skilled feat and worthy garment in it's own respect.

[Zebediah]

So, who'd buy the "I AM THE REASON YOU TWO ARE BONING" t-shirt?

It would work better as a greeting card. "CONGRATULATIONS DALE + MARIGOLD. I AM THE REASON YOU TWO ARE BONING. LOVE ALWAYS YOU ASSPRAWNS, MAY."

[Border Reiver]

Now we know what May is like when she's being nice.

All the subtlety of a blunderbuss.

I was thinking more of the stereotypical Sgt Maj., "Right, all of you with living fathers, one pace forward - MARCH!  Not so fast Bloggins..."

[ZoeB]

I've minutiously examined how she tends to react, and I looked up serious objective sources. It's still possible that I'm projecting, but to me she's shown all the signs of social anxiety disorder, or at least some kind of similar avoidance issue.

Bingo.

[Barmymoo]

I found Marigold's reaction odd, although I can sort of understand it - she'd be jealous of anyone living with her boyfriend, because she is so insecure about herself. But I can't see that she'd be worried about Dale breaking up with her for May; maybe I'm being narrow-minded but we've seen no evidence of human-robot romantic relationships. Also, Marigold has a housemate who she has admitted having feelings for, so she is indeed being a hypocrite. But as we've seen, she's not great at rational thought preceding emotional reaction.

[Ben]

I have to say that given the first chassis Momo rejected at the Idoru store, human/AI romantic relations would be seriously creepy in some ways. I think Jeph's shot that one down with the business about May "being like a Barbie doll" - Momo may, or may not be "fully equipped" but on the whole I think that's a subject best avoided.

[KOK]

Dale can help May find a job. Any of the crummy part-time jobs he ditched, for starters.

Well, definitely NOT at the pizza place.

Do we know that he quit all his jobs? In the reference above, only the pizza place is mentioned.

[pwhodges]

The lack of detail in May's ears reminds me of the designs in the anime Uchouten Kazoku (The Eccentric Family), which I expect it's quite likely that Jeph has seen.

[KOK]

I found Marigold's reaction odd, although I can sort of understand it - she'd be jealous of anyone living with her boyfriend, because she is so insecure about herself. But I can't see that she'd be worried about Dale breaking up with her for May; maybe I'm being narrow-minded but we've seen no evidence of human-robot romantic relationships. Also, Marigold has a housemate who she has admitted having feelings for, so she is indeed being a hypocrite. But as we've seen, she's not great at rational thought preceding emotional reaction.

Until now they have had Dale's place to themselves. Where will they find privacy if somebody else, anybody else, moves in? Yes, Faye and Angus are doing fine even though both have room mates, but they also both have self confidence.

[Barmymoo]

That's a good point too, May isn't exactly the most subtle of people and would probably not think twice about barging into a room.

[WAYF]

Oh yeah, I almost forgot what May's definition of "tact" was.

Solid reasoning applied with a sledgehammer is about as good as she gets.
It might be working better on Marigold than it would on other people because right now this thing between her and Dale is something she's really appreciating the value of, and would hate to do without.
So the idea that May is partially responsible probably holds a lot of weight.

[FunkyTuba]

I think Marigold just realized that May is angling to be Dale's anthro-pc, not his girlfriend

[Barmymoo]

Honestly I think she's just angling to be his lodger! I doubt she would appreciate the implication that Dale owner her in any sense, but she needs a place to stay and isn't very good at expressing a desire to be friends.

[DonInKansas]

We should put Pintsize, Momo, May, that Mac anthropc I forgot the name and the roomba in the same house and make a reality show.

It will be called "Robot House"

(click to show/hide)

You also forgot the Bearded Linux Anthro. :p

I think doucheboat may be my new favorite insult.

[Schmorgluck]

Honestly I think she's just angling to be his lodger! I doubt she would appreciate the implication that Dale owner her in any sense, but she needs a place to stay and isn't very good at expressing a desire to be friends.

Maybe Dale was the first person to put up with her antics in a stern but fair fashion? Also, I think "ownership" isn't quite a right term to use about AnthroPCs (or AIs) who go for the human companionship thing.

[KOK]

Jeph has changed his mind over the more than ten years the comic has run. In the early strips, robots have owners. The robots refer to their owners as such often, e.g. Momo introduces Marigold as "my owner". As late as the rebodying of Momo, there is talk of "returning" her as if she was purchased like an appliance.

Later Jeph has stated outside of the comic that robots are not property but regarded as people with rights. No robot has refered to "my owner" for a long time.

The system as it is now would not actually work. It must cost money to produce the intelligences. They develop in creches, according to another statement from Jeph. That too must cost money. And then there are the bodies, which can not be cheap. Who pays for all that? There is no indication that the AI starts its life with a debt that must be repaid.

Of course we do not need to know who pays to enjoy the comic. In a work of fiction, especialy a lighthearted one, some things should not be analyzed to closely.

[T]

Jeph has changed his mind over the more than ten years the comic has run. In the early strips, robots have owners. The robots refer to their owners as such often, e.g. Momo introduces Marigold as "my owner". As late as the rebodying of Momo, there is talk of "returning" her as if she was purchased like an appliance.

Later Jeph has stated outside of the comic that robots are not property but regarded as people with rights. No robot has refered to "my owner" for a long time.

The system as it is now would not actually work. It must cost money to produce the intelligences. They develop in creches, according to another statement from Jeph. That too must cost money. And then there are the bodies, which can not be cheap. Who pays for all that? There is no indication that the AI starts its life with a debt that must be repaid.

Of course we do not need to know who pays to enjoy the comic. In a work of fiction, especialy a lighthearted one, some things should not be analyzed to closely.

During this time Singularity happened. Maybe this changed everything.

[TinPenguin]

The stuff with the Singularity, and the Constitutional amendment are kinda just Jeph's in-universe excuse for 'yeah, I changed my mind about how this works'.

[Schmorgluck]

As TinPenguin said, there also have been mention of political decisions reguarding AI's civil rights in the mean time. Let's not make this too technical. Questionable Content is no more "Hard Science Fiction" than Harry Potter is "Hard Fantasy". I like me some narrative hardness, but it's not always worth bothering too much about, especially when the main focus is relationships.

[Mad Cat]

Ass-dick

Assplow

Doucheboats

May's epithet generator needs upgrading.

Seeing Mar-bear's face in May's hands got me thinking, how strong are androids supposed to be in the QC-verse? If May, the recently paroled criminal AI had a mind to, could she go all Roy Batty-on-Emmit Tyrell to Marigold?

I see two possibilities: A) the technologicly plausible; androids in the QC-verse are about as strong as autonomous robots in real life, namely, not very, certainly not superhuman strength.

B) The QC-verse solved the energy density of electric energy storage systems (batteries or super caps) problem, so it's easy for anthroPCs of all kinds to carry around a week's worth of charge on a night's worth of recharging and the electromechanical actuators that act as muscles are able to channel entirely enough current while remaining light weight that May could snap Marigold in two.

If B is the case, then I see two other possibilities: α) all anthro chassis have built in hardware governors to keep them at human levels of strength unless an emergency arises that requires superhuman strength to preserve life/property. β) those governors are purely behavioural, except, hopefully, in the cases of the recently embodied criminals.

[Schmorgluck]

As long as we agree on it being all wild irrelevant speculation, I'd wager that AnthroPCs' mobility would be based on contractile fibers or contained contractile gels rather than cog-and-wire mechanics. Consequently, I think their build is exoskeleton-based rather than endoskeleton-based. Although a case can be made for a combination of both.

[Is it cold in here?]

I have to say that given the first chassis Momo rejected at the Idoru store, human/AI romantic relations would be seriously creepy in some ways. I think Jeph's shot that one down with the business about May "being like a Barbie doll" - Momo may, or may not be "fully equipped" but on the whole I think that's a subject best avoided.

That's pretty much what Jeph has said on his Tumblr. It's pretty inevitable that humans and robots will develop loving feelings for each other, but he finds the whole idea of robot sex too distasteful to discuss.

If a meat-based person had grabbed Marigold's throat, wouldn't we assume the worst?

Summary of what's known about AnthroPC social status.

The adoption fees might fund the VR creches. Someone here long ago pointed out that the refundable adoption fee business model is weird and has no parallel in real-life commerce. But then the same is true of AnthroPCs.

[TinPenguin]

If a meat-based person had grabbed Marigold's throat, wouldn't we assume the worst?

Aye, though it's not actually her throat, but her jaw that is being grabbed. Standard protocol for 'listen to what the fuck I am saying', but still quite threatening behaviour from someone you've just met - even (especially?) if they've already met you.

I'd expect no less from May.

[Schmorgluck]

Most science-fiction works suck as far as social sciences (including economics) are involved anyway. And QC isn't even a SF work, it just borrows aspects from SF as seems fit to the plot (as a result, in the QC universe, science advances at the speed of a StarFury) or Jeph's tastes within his own nerddom.

On the matter of AIs and AnthroPCs we really need to keep discussions relaxed.

Really, relax folks, there's no tight place in which you can plug your turgescent arguments in.

[Method of Madness]

On the matter of AIs and AnthroPCs we really need to keep discussions relaxed.

All discussions should be relaxed here, yeah, but why should this topic be any more than any other? It's fun to speculate beyond what the comic gives us on the rules of the QC universe, so what's the harm?

[cesariojpn]

On the matter of AIs and AnthroPCs we really need to keep discussions relaxed.

All discussions should be relaxed here, yeah, but why should this topic be any more than any other? It's fun to speculate beyond what the comic gives us on the rules of the QC universe, so what's the harm?*

* Aside from shipping characters of course.

[Kugai]

Well, now we know what May is good at

Human/Robot Relations

[Method of Madness]

On the matter of AIs and AnthroPCs we really need to keep discussions relaxed.

All discussions should be relaxed here, yeah, but why should this topic be any more than any other? It's fun to speculate beyond what the comic gives us on the rules of the QC universe, so what's the harm?*

* Aside from shipping characters of course.

Well no, shipping goes beyond speculation and that's why it's banned, but fair enough.

[Roxtar]

Well, now we know what May is good at

Human/Robot Relations

Human/Cyborg Relations?
May as a surly C3P0?

[Ben]

Momo said she could do "light housework" and one of Idoru staff said they had formerly been a forklift truck, so I had assumed that Companion AIs were strong enough to cope with existing in a human-designed world (opening doors, carrying small items etc) but that's all. Anything requiring power, like a forklift, would be embodied in that form. Momo is clearly strong enough to work as a library assistant.

Regarding robot/human relations, the chassis Momo rejected at Idoru was a highly anime-style girl in a school uniform. Her original chassis wore a similar outfit. The one she DID choose, looks like a rather precocious twelve-year-old. So yeah, the whole subject is best avoided. Anyone who has ever done a First Aid course involving Resusci-Anne and Resusci-Andy will know why.

Same goes for the economics of AnthroPCs. QC follows a common convention in slice-of-life comics, which is that none of the characters have a job worth anything. Coffee of Doom apparently employs half-a-dozen part-timers and rents a shop on a weekday volume of 257 cups, which anyone who has ever worked in such a place will tell you is far too low. Marten has some sort of low-level admin job, then a library assistant. Marigold apparently earns an income as tech support to a single website plus unspecified other such work, yet can sign a loan for $30,000 and shares an apartment. Dale works various crappy part-time jobs yet rents an apartment, owns a car, and contributes to his mothers' costs.

[Mr_Rose]

Remember that when Momo was writing up that CV she still had her old Sony chassis and so was limited not just by raw strength but also by height and leverage. Or, rather, the lack of same.

As for the "rejected" model in the shop, I suspect it had more to do with Marigold's effusive reaction to a chassis that resembled one of her (presumably) favourite characters; specifically I reckon Momo was (rightfully or not) concerned that Mari would likely start to react to the new chassis rather than to Momo herself, expecting behaviours Momo isn't comfortable with and becoming disappointed when they never appear.

[hedgie]

I have to say that given the first chassis Momo rejected at the Idoru store, human/AI romantic relations would be seriously creepy in some ways. I think Jeph's shot that one down with the business about May "being like a Barbie doll" - Momo may, or may not be "fully equipped" but on the whole I think that's a subject best avoided.

Anatomy aside, one of Momo's fantasies (regarding Sven) shows that at the very least, some AIs *can* be physically attracted to humans, but I don't think that I'll be seeing any AI/human romances any time soon.  But there's still such a thing as cheating *emotionally*, and I think that's what Marigold was worried about.  She's insecure, and she doesn't want this unknown robot (especially a female one) taking away their time together, or possibly developing emotional attraction.  It's her first relationship, and she doesn't know how to handle jealousy situations.  Dale is also new at the relationship thing, and may not know how to set the proper boundries, himself.  I'm pretty sure that May might force him to get better at drawing the line, though.

[T]

Well, in this QC world there are robots with the mindset like Pintsize, and humans are, human.

So it is certain that not only there is a lot of robot/human romance but also a lot of robot/human sex and even porn.

[Zwammy]

How does an Anthro PC smell?

Through the use of sensitive olfactory sensors with selective filters so pizza can only be smelled if desired - which is also a great thing when you live with a meatsack who doesn't have good hygiene/housekeeping skills.

May's epithet generator needs upgrading.

Why? I think her epithets are pretty funny.

The stuff with the Singularity, and the Constitutional amendment are kinda just Jeph's in-universe excuse for 'yeah, I changed my mind about how this works'.

He's the artistic vision, so that's ok. I imagine if someone wanted to they could sit down and write up a reasonably logical economic/social manifesto to explain things in the QC universe, but I'd rather just enjoy the story without it. Having AnthroPC's with well-developed AI's is a stretch already, so it's all good to me.

[Ben]

There is no reason at all why AnthroAIs need to have great strength. It's established that they can transfer their electronic "selves" into any chassis they require, and do so when required; the humanoid firm is just one particular version for a specific function. So, by Occam's Razor, they are no stronger than humans and probably much less strong.

Likewise, Pintsize's online "date" with another AI shows how AI "sex" actually functions. It's an electronic exchange. Pintsize is notionally "male" because the plot requires "his" character to be exaggeratedly laddish; Winslow is asexual because that's a plot point, too. The Idoru sales staff are "female" because of Pintsize's anecdote, but mostly because the scenario requires a characterisation as being apparently educated and trustworthy, but in a fairly low-level job and this doesn't work so well with a "male" avatar. Chibi-Momo is apparently, Marigold's choice of chassis with Momo's personality, while Momo-as-now is Momo's choice of chassis.

Holographic May is a joke about Dale, in the same vein as the "green skinned space babe" joke in Grrl Power. I strongly suspect that May-as-now will prove to have been allocated to Dale as part of her parole, because she needs to develop her socialisation and Dale is in a fairly short list of people who she can, or will relate to. Dale obviously signed up for the glasses trial without reading the small print, or even most if the quite large print, after all, so he doesn't understand the situation.

So, robo-sex is an off-colour but in-character joke by Pintsize. Momo's Sven-fantasy is a projection of her actual function, interpreted in humanoid firm because she us in a humanoid body. Any of the AIs could have an analogous relationship with any of the others, as Pintsize did, because as the little guy demonstrated, the whole issue of their nominal sexuality isn't an essential part of their identity.

Really, it comes down to perceiving them as "people". Momo et al aren't human. This is why Momo has re-acquired the visible joint around her neck; to remind readers that she  ISN'T the young girl she superficially resembles.

[T]

Really, it comes down to perceiving them as "people". Momo et al aren't human. This is why Momo has re-acquired the visible joint around her neck; to remind readers that she  ISN'T the young girl she superficially resembles.

Not being human was never an absolute barrier in fiction. In fact, there are a bunch of real life people who would marry with virtual characters, machines, animals, inanimate objects and places if allowed to.

[hedgie]

Really, it comes down to perceiving them as "people". Momo et al aren't human. This is why Momo has re-acquired the visible joint around her neck; to remind readers that she  ISN'T the young girl she superficially resembles.

Oh, they aren't humans (but I'd call them people), but it has been established in 'verse that those with a chassis like Momo can be easily mistaken for human if one doesn't look to closely.  There may be some with even more realistic chassis.  But I think that most of Marigold's insecurity about May are more about a possible emotional connexion b/n May and Dale than the thought of them "getting it on".  At least when she wasn't being a brat and holding helping Momo purchase her body above her head, she regards her as a person.  And Marten has also stated that Pintsize is just a little guy to him.  Any abuse Pintsize suffers is firmly about his behaviour, and a *lot* of people I know would happily smack around their human friends if they acted like that.

[T]

Really, it comes down to perceiving them as "people". Momo et al aren't human. This is why Momo has re-acquired the visible joint around her neck; to remind readers that she  ISN'T the young girl she superficially resembles.

Oh, they aren't humans (but I'd call them people), but it has been established in 'verse that those with a chassis like Momo can be easily mistaken for human if one doesn't look to closely.  There may be some with even more realistic chassis.  But I think that most of Marigold's insecurity about May are more about a possible emotional connexion b/n May and Dale than the thought of them "getting it on".  At least when she wasn't being a brat and holding helping Momo purchase her body above her head, she regards her as a person.  And Marten has also stated that Pintsize is just a little guy to him.  Any abuse Pintsize suffers is firmly about his behaviour, and a *lot* of people I know would happily smack around their human friends if they acted like that.

What if Pintsize is into that?

[Ben]

Well, quite so. There is a Greek story of a bride made of gold, and a medieval European story about a bride made of flowers. The robot in "Metropolis" is clearly intended to be female, strikingly so. None if these end well.

Rachel Rosen from Blade Runner us a subversion of this. She is clearly attractive and by her own account, has sex with several bounty hunters who cannot then continue to perform their jobs because they develop empathy with "andys" in consequence. This is a  plot point because Deckard (ambiguously) does have sex with her, but DOES continue to pursue Roy Batty et al (although the book and film differ here). This in related to the ambiguous implication that Deckard himself may, or may not be an "andy".

I remember seeing a cartoon involving Vikings, with the leader goading his men on by shouting "last one ashore gets to clean the rubber woman" (the original Scandinavian version of Hagar the Horrible is pretty explicit by some standards). Rachel Rosen presumably functions much like a human in that fashion, but Anthros presumably don't.

None of this is new.

May looks increasingly as though she is developing into an "only sane man" style character, a semi-detached commentator on the QC-verse. Momo is fully bought into the background; her new appearance is quite shrewd, in that she is a credible member of the wider social group given that she clearly isn't human - a REAL girl of her appearance wouldn't be allowed in bars, fir one thing - but still sufficiently anime-esque to appeal to Marigold, who is very immature herself. May's first reaction to Momo is "great, more anime" after all.