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[ChipNoir]

I checked back five pages, and I'm not even sure what keywords to use to search for this anyways but...

I've gone back to beginning of QC as I tend to do every few years (Wow, that long) and I've just reached the point where Marten meets Hannelore for the first time. It's the most bizarre experience, as she's so completely different from where she is in the current run. It took me a moment to even remember that it was Hannelore and the whole situation as it unfolded.

So, have any of you gone back to earlier parts of the series, and just gone "...Wow, how did we get from there to here?" in terms of character developments?

[celticgeek]

I go back, either to the beginning, or to some previous point, and read a few hundred of the comics, because I enjoy re-reading about how we got from there to here.

[Thrillho]

The early strips are so unrecognisable that I almost can't stand to read them. They're a completely different beast and going back there can be hugely jarring. It's not even about quality, just difference of art and writing style.

[Zebediah]

Hannelore's changes are the most severe because, as Jeph has explained, he really didn't know where he was going with the character when he introduced her. He retconned it later by saying she was on some pretty heavy anti-anxiety meds at the time.

And, of course, Cosette looks so different now that she is clearly The Other Darren.

[Welu]

I've gone back and read the comic again a few times. Sometimes I've hit random and read for a while from where it lands me.

Marigold is a character I thought had an interesting intro compared to where she is now. She had the confidence to challenge Marten when she thought Pintsize was being abused and demand payment for her work fixing him. She seemed to lose that self-assuredness somewhere, or at least was so passionate in that instance to overcome a lack of it.

[Storel]

I find it interesting that early on, when Marten and Faye needed to remove Pintsize's laser from his chassis and delete the device drivers for it, Dora was the computer-knowledgeable person they went to for help. She hasn't done anything very technical ever since, and nowadays Marigold would probably be the one they'd ask for that sort of help.

[blt]

Especially since Marigold nerd-owned her for having a shitty company website.

[Storel]

That's right, she did! I'd forgotten that.

Well, even nerds aren't all good at the same things. Someone who understands how to find and remove the device driver for an... unusual device doesn't necessarily have the visual design sensibility to create a good-looking web site, and vice versa.

[blt]

Bumping this again; how did May not have a name until Dale gave her one?  Did she have an old one and abandoned it with her old life?  Or are AI like the pixies from Gunnerkrigg Court?

[TinPenguin]

Well, it seems Bubbles also didn't have a name before her squad gave it to her. May's previous existence as a bank computer was non-corporeal and probably didn't need more identification than a serial number. When she got out of jail and sought out Dale's help, that was the only name he knew her by and the one it made sense to continue using.

You didn't have a name either until an emotionally-bonded human gave you one.

P.S. 1000TH POST BLING BLANG BLONG BLUNG

[Morituri]

Traditions are different here and there.

Most parents pick out names for their child before they ever even meet them.  Which took me some time to wrap my head around, because it was always different for us; the whole extended family would be there when a new child got home and they'd spend a couple of days trying to figure out what the name was.  (Right.  Figure out what it WAS, under the assumption that it already existed, rather than try to make one up).

[sitnspin]

In some cultures you don't get a name until you're old enough to earn one.

[TheEvilDog]

And in other cultures, it's customary to name a newborn after a recently deceased relative to honour them.

So maybe if Bubbles creates any little AIs, she can name them after her squad...

[Storel]

And in other cultures, it's customary to name a newborn after a recently deceased relative to honour them.

So maybe if Bubbles creates any little AIs, she can name them after her squad...

If she remembers any of their names. After all, she doesn't remember their faces...

[Zebediah]

And in other cultures, it's customary to name a newborn after a recently deceased relative to honour them.

So maybe if Bubbles creates any little AIs, she can name them after her squad...

If she remembers any of their names. After all, she doesn't remember their faces...

"I will name him Arthur."
"And the other five?"
"I will also name them Arthur."

[Kugai]

Fred Dagg would approve.

[foolsguinea]

Traditions are different here and there.

Most parents pick out names for their child before they ever even meet them.  Which took me some time to wrap my head around, because it was always different for us; the whole extended family would be there when a new child got home and they'd spend a couple of days trying to figure out what the name was.  (Right.  Figure out what it WAS, under the assumption that it already existed, rather than try to make one up).

I have an aunt who, the story goes, took several days to name. I think her older sister nixed a name or two with which she had bad associations: mean cousins or other kids at school.

[Morituri]

I'm probably the last generation that could get away with that; in the US anyway, I hear they get really upset these days if you try to take the child home before you commit to a name for the birth certificate.  To hear Mom tell it, it was a huge fight even for me, and that was decades ago, before the so-called "war on terror" got going.

And when I got home the first thing my great-aunt Mollie did was feed me my pinch of dirt.  Now THAT goes all the way back across centuries, doesn't it?  Must've worked though; I got no allergies to anything.  Or maybe I was never going to have allergies to anything regardless, but whatever.

[Moggie]

"I will name him Arthur."
"And the other five?"
"I will also name them Arthur."

Or Zathras  .

[OldGoat]

Bumping this again; how did May not have a name until Dale gave her one?  Did she have an old one and abandoned it with her old life?  Or are AI like the pixies from Gunnerkrigg Court?

Upon generation and installation on host media Artificial Intelligence entities get a build number and MAC address combination which is perfectly adequate for AI-AI relationships and communications.  Names come up when they have to interact with MIs (Meat Intelligence entities).

Or at least that's how I'm going to read it until Jeph says otherwise.

[TinPenguin]

bhtooefr linked the space station arc in the WCDT, and, reading through it again, I realise how easy it is to forget that Marten and Marigold went to friggin' SPACE and it was only Marigold who emerged remotely changed from the experience (and touched a weiner).

[blt]

I'd argue that Marten changed some; growing up and moving on with how he treated Padma.  Although that was less to do with space and more just talking to Lt Porter.

[dutchrvl]

bhtooefr linked the space station arc in the WCDT, and, reading through it again, I realise how easy it is to forget that Marten and Marigold went to friggin' SPACE and it was only Marigold who emerged remotely changed from the experience (and touched a weiner).

I thought about that when rereading that arc, but I understand it now. Given their society and the normality of sentient AI, would being in orbit (also pretty common considering some people like Hanners grew up there) necessarily be a life-changing experience?

I think for me it would also just qualify as an ubercool trip, but not more than that. The main reason for that is because, once getting to the spacestation, everything around you is more or less normal: (artificial) gravity, hotelroom-like accommodations, and the whole spacestation layout is extremely roomy. So, apart from a few details, mostly the awesome view and the interesting tidbits of zerogravity racquetball and makeout sessions, there is not that much that stands out to make it life-changing.