*might* it be possible FOr Dr. Lee to mojo Tip into this virtual reality? Would that break a wall between fantasy-reality and fantasy-VR? Perhaps the 43rd wall??
One of the occasional tropes of the Narboniverse is emulatative intelligence (to possibly coin a phrase), where a genius of sufficient caliber is able to know someone else’s mind so thoroughly that the genius is able to predict what the person will do or say. We’ve seen Artie as the genius, predicting Dave’s reactions, and also, much later, Sweethearts. There has also been Brains!Unity, able to predict Violet Bee’s operator’s reactions to high precision.
It’s possible that Gavotte has this as well, or perhaps she has a more general predictive intelligence.
Anyway, Ginny is enough of a genius that she can do an emulation of Tip. It is obviously not quite perfect — Tip would not need to ask for puppets; he would simply produce them out of the ether.
What interests me is the question of how far she will go with Tip’s method of treating female clients or whether it will be male clients she treats like that. ^_^
Well, in response to Owlmirror, Virginia is a genius at replicating mad science, so it’s not that much of a stretch that she could also replicate the behavior of those she knows well to the point of seeming to channel that individual. Replicating things other people have done is kind of her specialty, after all.
She reminds me of an old hard-science person I knew who suddenly realized the soft-science of psychology was valid. He was in a state of stunned-enlightenment for a week
Hmmm, an interesting question. Is mad psychology the study of how to make people sane/functional using extremely unconventional methods, or the study of how to make sane people mad?
Psychology is merely the study of the mental structure of a person. It is not about altering one’s psyche. So mad psychology would be the study of the mental structure of Mad persons. It could also cover the study of pre-Mad persons.
Somehow I don’t think G.O.D.O.T. would be easy to catch, preferring its freedom. Besides, couldn’t it only affect our perception of words, not the talking gorilla bagging groceries? (To use an example.)
GODOT was able to affect perception, period. Words just happen to be one of the most common types of communication. But Unity ate half of it. Even so, he wouldn’t need GODOT, since A-Sig purchased Whimsy’s mind control software.
I used to think this, but now I’m no longer quite certain that they did. We see Whimsy accepting a software purchase from Anasigma, but Nick seems to have gotten through to Lovelace that she can’t be certain that Whimsy won’t do something problematic. So maybe Lovelace altered things a bit more?
Have we even seen Anasigma doing something like using the Crown? When Mr. Green kidnaps Nick, he uses the control phrases that were built in. He doesn’t seem to be able to make Nick want to simply obey him. That goes even more so for Virginia, especially in a VR, where the Crown is supposed to directly function. Maybe Mr. Green has just been holding off, but maybe he doesn’t have it after all.
The reality blindness that struck very suddenly and widespread across pretty much the entire country was very possibly caused by the Crown. And very possibly deployed through some electronic service that almost everyone would use, such as the internet.
Lovelace had used her copy of the Crown to make sure that Whimsy used their copy of the Crown only for good. Unfortunately, she failed to define “good”, so when Whimsy made the deal with A-Sig, they thought it sounded very good.
The people who have been extirpated into the VR seem to believe that they are trapped there, and seem to not even realize that they are in a virtual world. However, just like the reality blindness didn’t affect some people, Virginia was not fooled by the VR. So it seems the Crown is not completely effective. Which is why Mr. Green wanted to get his hands on GODOT so badly. GODOT affected everyone, even the Mad scientists and zombies, and even Ruby, who is an android. But as I mentioned above, Unity ate half of GODOT, so things did not go as Mr. Green had wanted.
So, I have some vague memory that we saw Baron Mistycorn visiting someone, and delivering a package. I can’t recall who he visited, and I don’t think we saw what was in the package. Is it possible that he managed to steal the Crown, or a copy of it, and delivered it to someone who he thought really would use it for good? Anyone recall this storyline? Or am I imagining this?
I do not recall him delivering a package. He did receive a package, which turned out to be the decommissioned Whimsy VR server. Inside it, of course, was Aimee, with her copy of the Crown.
Yet we see the reality blindness first strike not while anyone is specifically using electronics, but during a council meeting.
I have to wonder if there might be an interaction between Unity’s nanites and GODOT. Could Unity have unwittingly absorbed some of GODOT’s abilities?
And we did see a GODOT overlay at the end of the chapter. Maybe he’s less eaten than he appeared. Which would be just like him. YES, GODOT HAS BEEN HALF-EATEN, AND NEED NO LONGER BE FEARED BY FOOLISH MORTAL MEATSACKS.
Everyone thought Unity brought back the Victor device. Or at least, something that everyone thought looked like the Victor device at the time.
I seem to recall his mojo being in full effect in the business suit. (Doubly so for the female jurors.) It was only after the reality blindness kicked in that he became a regular schlub. There’s literally no way to do his usual over-the-top glam thing because people will interpret him as a more mundane version of himself.
I laughed out loud, too. But how can you explain the reaction to anyone that hasn’t been following this strip for years when they look over you shoulder?
Well, don’t forget that Tip is actually a really terrible psychologist, given that he totally ignores whoever he’s listening to in favor of 1) patting himself on the back about what a good listener he is (Leo being only the first example) or 2) convincing himself that they’ve got a crush on him (as with Sweetheart.)
Ginny could easily be a better psychologist than Tip if she puts her mind to it.
Oh. My. God!
No, Tip. It’s a common mistake though.
If you saw the two of them together in a restaurant, I’m fairly sure you could tell them apart.
But has anyone ever actually seen the two of them together… ever? I’ve never seen them together in the same room….
*might* it be possible FOr Dr. Lee to mojo Tip into this virtual reality? Would that break a wall between fantasy-reality and fantasy-VR? Perhaps the 43rd wall??
The rule appears to be that mojo can’t be used for actually useful things.
That smile is a great imitation of Tip’s, just saying.
Looks like Tip’s “Makeover” grin
You are entirely right, it is! That’s amazing! Oh Lee, there is stylishness in you yet!
When you’re around someone enough, you start to pick up their mannerisms.
That is definitely completely true. I have picked up so many habits and quirks from friends over the years.
I think I now know where some of Tip’s mojo went.
I feel bad that when Virgina talks about dolls, i reminded to Banjo first before Tip.
There is no Banjo, only Banjulhu!
Blond and Flighty works well to describe Elan too. As a stick figure, I can’t vouch for how waxed or hairy he is…
He’s cleanshaven, anyway.
Haley didn’t seem to have any complaints. ^_^
Lol!
Yes Virginia, get in touch with your inner Tip.
No Virginia, not like that. Lord no.
Considering Tip’s usual modus operandi, that might actually help her get in the right mindset. But yeah, it’s not for this comic.
Just the Tip…?
I dunno…this could actually work.
She’s _channeling_ Tip? How does that even work?
One of the occasional tropes of the Narboniverse is emulatative intelligence (to possibly coin a phrase), where a genius of sufficient caliber is able to know someone else’s mind so thoroughly that the genius is able to predict what the person will do or say. We’ve seen Artie as the genius, predicting Dave’s reactions, and also, much later, Sweethearts. There has also been Brains!Unity, able to predict Violet Bee’s operator’s reactions to high precision.
It’s possible that Gavotte has this as well, or perhaps she has a more general predictive intelligence.
Anyway, Ginny is enough of a genius that she can do an emulation of Tip. It is obviously not quite perfect — Tip would not need to ask for puppets; he would simply produce them out of the ether.
He would also have acquired a far better outfit by now.
Except he’s spent the past couple storylines having failed to change his clothes…
I don’t think Tip gets his puppets (or his gun) out of nowhere. It’s just that he can always find them when he needs them. http://skin-horse.com/comic/nonhuman-sapients/
What interests me is the question of how far she will go with Tip’s method of treating female clients or whether it will be male clients she treats like that. ^_^
You do remember that Tip isn’t picky? Tip does avoid non-living drones, however.
Hammerspace. The term is Hammerspace. It’s a trope in itself.
tps://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Hammerspace
Well, in response to Owlmirror, Virginia is a genius at replicating mad science, so it’s not that much of a stretch that she could also replicate the behavior of those she knows well to the point of seeming to channel that individual. Replicating things other people have done is kind of her specialty, after all.
That is a scary thought… a Mad Scientist version of Mimic?
She reminds me of an old hard-science person I knew who suddenly realized the soft-science of psychology was valid. He was in a state of stunned-enlightenment for a week
Well,,, *some* level of validity. I’m spitballin’ it at about 20% – if “normal” physics is 100% and “mad” physics is about 300% (multiplied by i)
So what does that make mad psychology?
Hmmm, an interesting question. Is mad psychology the study of how to make people sane/functional using extremely unconventional methods, or the study of how to make sane people mad?
Psychology is merely the study of the mental structure of a person. It is not about altering one’s psyche. So mad psychology would be the study of the mental structure of Mad persons. It could also cover the study of pre-Mad persons.
Rereading the archives I got an idea:
What if the reason everyone got brainglazed is because Mr. Green managed to weaponize GODOT?
Somehow I don’t think G.O.D.O.T. would be easy to catch, preferring its freedom. Besides, couldn’t it only affect our perception of words, not the talking gorilla bagging groceries? (To use an example.)
GODOT was able to affect perception, period. Words just happen to be one of the most common types of communication. But Unity ate half of it. Even so, he wouldn’t need GODOT, since A-Sig purchased Whimsy’s mind control software.
So, hypothetically, does that mean whoever currently controls GODOT could use it to negate the Wimsey effect?
I used to think this, but now I’m no longer quite certain that they did. We see Whimsy accepting a software purchase from Anasigma, but Nick seems to have gotten through to Lovelace that she can’t be certain that Whimsy won’t do something problematic. So maybe Lovelace altered things a bit more?
Have we even seen Anasigma doing something like using the Crown? When Mr. Green kidnaps Nick, he uses the control phrases that were built in. He doesn’t seem to be able to make Nick want to simply obey him. That goes even more so for Virginia, especially in a VR, where the Crown is supposed to directly function. Maybe Mr. Green has just been holding off, but maybe he doesn’t have it after all.
The reality blindness that struck very suddenly and widespread across pretty much the entire country was very possibly caused by the Crown. And very possibly deployed through some electronic service that almost everyone would use, such as the internet.
Lovelace had used her copy of the Crown to make sure that Whimsy used their copy of the Crown only for good. Unfortunately, she failed to define “good”, so when Whimsy made the deal with A-Sig, they thought it sounded very good.
The people who have been extirpated into the VR seem to believe that they are trapped there, and seem to not even realize that they are in a virtual world. However, just like the reality blindness didn’t affect some people, Virginia was not fooled by the VR. So it seems the Crown is not completely effective. Which is why Mr. Green wanted to get his hands on GODOT so badly. GODOT affected everyone, even the Mad scientists and zombies, and even Ruby, who is an android. But as I mentioned above, Unity ate half of GODOT, so things did not go as Mr. Green had wanted.
So, I have some vague memory that we saw Baron Mistycorn visiting someone, and delivering a package. I can’t recall who he visited, and I don’t think we saw what was in the package. Is it possible that he managed to steal the Crown, or a copy of it, and delivered it to someone who he thought really would use it for good? Anyone recall this storyline? Or am I imagining this?
I do not recall him delivering a package. He did receive a package, which turned out to be the decommissioned Whimsy VR server. Inside it, of course, was Aimee, with her copy of the Crown.
Yet we see the reality blindness first strike not while anyone is specifically using electronics, but during a council meeting.
I have to wonder if there might be an interaction between Unity’s nanites and GODOT. Could Unity have unwittingly absorbed some of GODOT’s abilities?
And we did see a GODOT overlay at the end of the chapter. Maybe he’s less eaten than he appeared. Which would be just like him. YES, GODOT HAS BEEN HALF-EATEN, AND NEED NO LONGER BE FEARED BY FOOLISH MORTAL MEATSACKS.
Everyone thought Unity brought back the Victor device. Or at least, something that everyone thought looked like the Victor device at the time.
Good point about seeing the GODOT image at the end of the story. Chekhov’s gun…
Tip’s mojo couldn’t be destroyed by the business suit, only stolen and stashed away?
The Conservation of Mojo in action.
I seem to recall his mojo being in full effect in the business suit. (Doubly so for the female jurors.) It was only after the reality blindness kicked in that he became a regular schlub. There’s literally no way to do his usual over-the-top glam thing because people will interpret him as a more mundane version of himself.
“Find me some puppets!” and “Did you just get more stylish” are the two funniest lines I’ve read in a LONG time. Thank you!
I laughed out loud, too. But how can you explain the reaction to anyone that hasn’t been following this strip for years when they look over you shoulder?
And let’s not forget oblivious.
Aren’t we all oblivious at one time or another?
…huh?
I’m sure I would notice.
As a psychologist, Ginny makes an excellent neurobiologist. This is going to be fun.
Well, don’t forget that Tip is actually a really terrible psychologist, given that he totally ignores whoever he’s listening to in favor of 1) patting himself on the back about what a good listener he is (Leo being only the first example) or 2) convincing himself that they’ve got a crush on him (as with Sweetheart.)
Ginny could easily be a better psychologist than Tip if she puts her mind to it.
Tip is fine as a psychologist, or at least a research psychologist, which is what he’s actually qualified for. He’s a terrible psychiatrist/therapist.
This.^
Before I forget, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF!
Thanks so much! Well-wishes help make the day great!
Oh? It’s your birthday? Or was…well, happy birthday.
Thanks so much!
“Did you just get more stylish?” This is one of the humorous things I’ve read in a while. Laughed a good long time. Thank you for the health benefits.
And Doctor Lee brings us back to Tip in all his pre-gloom glory. Thank you for bringing joy to these grey October days!
If Dr. Lee is able to reverse engineer Tip’s puppet based psychology, does that prove Tip is a Mad fashion genius?