Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3476 to 3480 (8-12 May 2017)
ronbo:
I'd just like to offer a little defense for Marten here. He is a guy. We aren't very observant. A guy's vision works kind of like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Waive something interesting in front of our face and we are all over it. Wear a different shade of lipstick? Yeah, that kind of stuff is invisible to us.
Edit: and the standard opening height of an American doorway is 6 feet 8 inches or 2.03 meters. Looks like Bubbles is just slightly taller than that.
heyjames4:
--- Quote from: BenRG on 10 May 2017, 06:24 ---With reference to today's strip, someone on the Subreddit asked why Bubbles hasn't changed her chassis for one that is less intimidating.
I've been thinking about that and I've been thinking about Claire's conversation with Pintsize on the subject of 'body swapping'. I'm thinking that it is less common than we think and that, really, only AIs with a particular personality type are really able to do this. Look at some examples:
* Winslow was deeply relieved to get out of the 'robo-boyfriend' chassis and back into his pseudo-iPad;
* Momo selected a new chassis that closely resembled her old one in key features like presented gender and hair colour;
* May, who previously seems to have been one of the more exotic fixed 'disembodied' AIs, dislikes her humanoid chassis and would prefer to be an aircraft;
* Corpse Witch, when threatening Bubbles, implied that a change of chassis was a punishment.From this, I'm thinking that chassis type and appearance is strongly associated with the AI's self-image and self-identity. Changing their chassis for a more than mildly different-looking one is a cause of considerable psychological stress. So, in many ways, yes, irrespective of any other characteristics, Bubbles doesn't want to change her chassis for very solid reasons of peace of mind.
This could explain the long-held question of why a combat chassis should be so high human-fidelity: The designers were required to consider the AI's post-demobilisation needs. This was necessary to minimise the readjustment stress of post-military life. Probably some plug-and-play military-only hardware (scrambled comms and maybe built-in light weapons) has been removed but nothing that radically changes the 'feel' of living in that particular body.
--- End quote ---
Good catch on the post-demobilization factor.
From your examples, we've seen that voluntary chassis swaps can be associated with life-changing events. Similar to how human norms for clothings change over ones lifetime, or cutting your hair after having a bad day.
Momo changed from a kawaii-anthro-pc to a more humanoid form when her relationship with Marigold progressed from 'pet' to 'roomate', and when she developed a crush on Sven.
But during that same arc, the attendant at the chassis outlet said that she chose the humanoid form, and the high-end retail job, as a second career after getting bored working at a bank as a data server.
Jeremy the sentient assembly arm had several additional limbs installed when he was "promoted" by Creepybot.
So now that Bubbles is going through some life changing events, opening a business, getting over her traumas, starting a new life, she may consider a new chassis.
Or, removing the armor may be enough of a physical change to reflect her internal development.
shanejayell:
Plus there's the whole 'guys don't know what's safe to say to women.'
Marten may be afraid of offending her too.
brasca:
--- Quote from: BenRG on 09 May 2017, 23:17 ---Meanwhile, I really want to know what Bubbles is doing for shoes. I think that Jeph has been very careful to hide that from us and I can't help but wonder if that's significant somehow.
--- End quote ---
Perhaps she put her boots back on for the sake of having footwear or maybe her derma layer is tough enough to walk barefoot.
--- Quote from: ronbo on 10 May 2017, 06:28 ---I'd just like to offer a little defense for Marten here. He is a guy. We aren't very observant. A guy's vision works kind of like the T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Waive something interesting in front of our face and we are all over it. Wear a different shade of lipstick? Yeah, that kind of stuff is invisible to us.
--- End quote ---
Yes, a coworker experimented with this and wore the same outfit every day. None of the men noticed, but the women did.
Kugai:
--- Quote from: jwhouk on 09 May 2017, 19:06 ---
--- Quote from: Kugai on 08 May 2017, 16:32 ---And because no-one has yet made the ubiquitous statesmen, I will
It's bigger on the inside
:-D
--- End quote ---
Can't be. Then it'd be blue with a police light on top.
--- End quote ---
The Chameleon circuit works - Emily made it, remember. :-D
It would seem that Marten is still somewhat intimidated by Bubbles.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version