Nick (presumably) isn’t objecting on the grounds of it being weird per se, but rather based on the fact that he simply isn’t interested, and being that Aimee is himself, assumes that she isn’t either (which is highly likely).
It’d be really bad and pretty sexist writing if Aimee was suddenly inexplicably interested in the Baron when Nick never was, just because Aimee is female. Consider the reverse – if the Baron suddenly became the Baroness, it would be completely out of character for Nick to suddenly become interested out of thin air.
I went with Nick because we’re talking about Aimee, who the comic has beaten us over the head to remind is -IS NICK-, and thus is the personality and set of tastes that primarily is important here.
If what we know of regular Nick tells us that he wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with a female Baron, why would a female Nick want to be in a relationship with a regular Baron?
I referenced Nick’s self-loathing elsewhere because self-loathing people do shun healthy relationships in favor of bad ones quite often so let me offer a more positive reason here. Nick and Baron are friends. They hang out together by choice because they like each other’s company. So quite obviously each is attracted to the personality matrix of the other. This being the case a better question might be why would either *not* think a female version of the other to be attractive? o_O
“It’d be really bad and pretty sexist writing if Aimee was suddenly inexplicably interested in the Baron when Nick never was, just because Aimee is female.”
Biological reality is a very sexist thing by definition. ^_^
“if the Baron suddenly became the Baroness, it would be completely out of character for Nick to suddenly become interested out of thin air.”
We are talking of someone who has proclaimed his self-loathing nature so I’m not sure you are correct on that one either. And even if that were not the case do not overlook the influence of both glands and pheromones on the way that living creatures, including humans, behave.
“Biological reality is a very sexist thing by definition.”
It is blatantly wrong notions like this which cause sexism to persist in the modern age.
You are confusing the effects of gendered culture and societal behavior conditioning for some sort of instrinsic sexual dimorphism, which is absolutely not the case.
I dunno about that. They’re gaming buddies and friends and seem to get along pretty well to me though perhaps it is I who am mistaken on this one. Is there a particular comic that caused you to form that impression? o_O
Nick barely stands anyone. That’s one of the things he needs to face and grow out of before he can be happy in a relationship with anyone, like, say, Dr. Lee.
Not necessarily. Yes, she is a gender swapped clone of Nick, which means she started out essentially as Nick in a (metaphorical) dress, but she’s also been a fully sapient being for however long she has existed independently of him. She may have predilections that he doesn’t.
Also consider that Nick does seem to genuinely like Baron Mistycorn. Despite his irritating real world persona, Nick has remained friends with him for several years and apparently lets him win at video games.
That’s an interesting point. How old is the “backup” of Nick that they used to make Aimee? And how much of his memories does she possess?
Does Aimee have memories of, and an inexplicable attraction to, a certain Dr. Lee whom she has never actually met? Does Aimee know about Skin Horse? How far back do or don’t the memories go?
I find it a bit hard to imagine that Aimee could have been created without any of Nick’s memories being involved. Lifting only a person’s personality by itself seems unlikely to work, because inventing a different past which meshes with that personality’s quirks would be really difficult. The first bit of self reflection would expose flaws that couldn’t be reconciled, and might even drive one mad.
I mean, I assume Mass Effect 3, because it’s only being used for this one joke…
On that topic: was Mass Effect specifically picked to reflect any larger themes and/or foreshadowing of the story? (She didn’t need to pick Mass Effect, after all. No Man’s Sky would have still worked with the joke, and also [second-hand spoiler alert] gone with the theme of virtualization and simulated reality.)
Like, are the Reapers standing in parallel to some sort of organization that we have yet to meet? What are the chances she’s foreshadowing by referencing the Indoctrination Theory or something? (Probably some other thing — I haven’t played Mass Effect…)
Whimsy was also a madboy. If one of his creations didn’t have not-entirely-logical goals that go against the very purpose for which he made them, it would be weird.
If Baron’s statements about what you can do in skin-horse.com/comic/pull-the-intake/ are correct, there’s more than just his personality standing in the way of whatever it is he wants to do.
You know, it used to be that I could count on the good people at Skin Horse/Narbonic to bring me my daily dose of madscience, conspiracy, and world domination. Now I find them veering off into themes of inter-entity relationships and getting one’s freak on. All I can say is…keep up the good work.
The Baron’s got a point. ^_^
Too bad it’s an irrelevant one.
Nick (presumably) isn’t objecting on the grounds of it being weird per se, but rather based on the fact that he simply isn’t interested, and being that Aimee is himself, assumes that she isn’t either (which is highly likely).
It’d be really bad and pretty sexist writing if Aimee was suddenly inexplicably interested in the Baron when Nick never was, just because Aimee is female. Consider the reverse – if the Baron suddenly became the Baroness, it would be completely out of character for Nick to suddenly become interested out of thin air.
Don’t you mean “for the baroness to suddenly become interested”?
Either or.
I went with Nick because we’re talking about Aimee, who the comic has beaten us over the head to remind is -IS NICK-, and thus is the personality and set of tastes that primarily is important here.
If what we know of regular Nick tells us that he wouldn’t want to be in a relationship with a female Baron, why would a female Nick want to be in a relationship with a regular Baron?
Well to be fair, the Baron has been acting a lot less dickish ever since he saw her. So she may have a slightly skewed perception of him.
I referenced Nick’s self-loathing elsewhere because self-loathing people do shun healthy relationships in favor of bad ones quite often so let me offer a more positive reason here. Nick and Baron are friends. They hang out together by choice because they like each other’s company. So quite obviously each is attracted to the personality matrix of the other. This being the case a better question might be why would either *not* think a female version of the other to be attractive? o_O
“It’d be really bad and pretty sexist writing if Aimee was suddenly inexplicably interested in the Baron when Nick never was, just because Aimee is female.”
Biological reality is a very sexist thing by definition. ^_^
“if the Baron suddenly became the Baroness, it would be completely out of character for Nick to suddenly become interested out of thin air.”
We are talking of someone who has proclaimed his self-loathing nature so I’m not sure you are correct on that one either. And even if that were not the case do not overlook the influence of both glands and pheromones on the way that living creatures, including humans, behave.
“Biological reality is a very sexist thing by definition.”
It is blatantly wrong notions like this which cause sexism to persist in the modern age.
You are confusing the effects of gendered culture and societal behavior conditioning for some sort of instrinsic sexual dimorphism, which is absolutely not the case.
Sure. You bet. Honest. But all the same, the universe does not care what anyone thinks and will continue to not do so. ^_^
Glands and pheromones can’t compensate for the fact that Nick barely stands Baron.
I dunno about that. They’re gaming buddies and friends and seem to get along pretty well to me though perhaps it is I who am mistaken on this one. Is there a particular comic that caused you to form that impression? o_O
Nick barely stands anyone. That’s one of the things he needs to face and grow out of before he can be happy in a relationship with anyone, like, say, Dr. Lee.
Not necessarily. Yes, she is a gender swapped clone of Nick, which means she started out essentially as Nick in a (metaphorical) dress, but she’s also been a fully sapient being for however long she has existed independently of him. She may have predilections that he doesn’t.
Also consider that Nick does seem to genuinely like Baron Mistycorn. Despite his irritating real world persona, Nick has remained friends with him for several years and apparently lets him win at video games.
Maybe a very tall hat…
Yes, someone “got” that!
I really like Aimee’s pose in panel 1; it reads as, “Stand back, lest I blast you with the power of my Mind!”
Well it IS a Mind-Control hat…
She is trope-savvy. Aimee’s probably doing it deliberately to emphasize her point to them.
Hey, the multiplayer is alright. In small doses.
That the multiplayer, of all things, is the highlight of a BioWare game, of all companies, is absolutely heartbreaking.
Meh, could be worse. I woulda gone with Skyrim or Fallout 4, at least you can mod those.
They could probably mod Mass Effect. I seem to recall Nick making some pretty extensive mods to Mario Kart in an earlier strip.
Aimee’s only based on his personality, though. She doesn’t have the extensive wetware interface that gives him that control.
I mean, she could probably mod it anyway, but not the same way he does.
So which Mass Effect would be “new” to Aimee?
That’s an interesting point. How old is the “backup” of Nick that they used to make Aimee? And how much of his memories does she possess?
Does Aimee have memories of, and an inexplicable attraction to, a certain Dr. Lee whom she has never actually met? Does Aimee know about Skin Horse? How far back do or don’t the memories go?
I find it a bit hard to imagine that Aimee could have been created without any of Nick’s memories being involved. Lifting only a person’s personality by itself seems unlikely to work, because inventing a different past which meshes with that personality’s quirks would be really difficult. The first bit of self reflection would expose flaws that couldn’t be reconciled, and might even drive one mad.
I mean, I assume Mass Effect 3, because it’s only being used for this one joke…
On that topic: was Mass Effect specifically picked to reflect any larger themes and/or foreshadowing of the story? (She didn’t need to pick Mass Effect, after all. No Man’s Sky would have still worked with the joke, and also [second-hand spoiler alert] gone with the theme of virtualization and simulated reality.)
Like, are the Reapers standing in parallel to some sort of organization that we have yet to meet? What are the chances she’s foreshadowing by referencing the Indoctrination Theory or something? (Probably some other thing — I haven’t played Mass Effect…)
Mass Effect Andromeda. It’s apparently kinda pants, worse than Mass Effect 3.
That’s still a very high bar, considering how good ME3 was.
…Baron’s a robot/AI, and one created by a prudish corporation. Why does he have a freak to get on in the first place?
Whimsy was also a madboy. If one of his creations didn’t have not-entirely-logical goals that go against the very purpose for which he made them, it would be weird.
If Baron’s statements about what you can do in skin-horse.com/comic/pull-the-intake/ are correct, there’s more than just his personality standing in the way of whatever it is he wants to do.
A non-weird way to get his freak on. But isn’t that true of pretty much everybody in “Skin Horse?”
This is oddly reminiscent of my own internal debate at times.
You know, it used to be that I could count on the good people at Skin Horse/Narbonic to bring me my daily dose of madscience, conspiracy, and world domination. Now I find them veering off into themes of inter-entity relationships and getting one’s freak on. All I can say is…keep up the good work.
Wait, Baron is purple?
Well, they’ve already had a character named Violet…
I always thought Baron was more blue-ish than purple.