They’re still siblings, genetically, and depending on when the dimensions “branched off”, each Tip’s parents might have been indistinguishable (up til the moment Tip was conceived, anyway).
But, who cares? If there’s consent and there’s contraception, cui malo?
Nah, this comic has always been sex-obsessed. Even Nick, who has no biological body, is sex-obsessed – and anything involving Tip invariably includes sex. Two Tips? the subject had to come up (the double entendre is unavoidable).
I tend to think of sexual preferences (or lack thereof) as a matter of taste. They can evolve with time but you can’t force them to change, and in the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whatever you like as long as you share them with people who enjoys them too.
Well if all the males have been killed in this universe, Rebecca’s pretty much stuck with other women. Plus or minus the existence of non-human sentients in this reality, though.
Actually from all the sci-fi I’ve read sex with your self *is* okay (almost required). So … genetically similar = icky but genetically identical is okay. Kind of weird.
Oh, wait. Genetically identical *is* okay…. never mind.
It’s the sex with your grandmother that never makes any sense when you think about it.
There’s also the fact that (contrary to the popular conception) reproduction between genetically similar people doesn’t result in the baby having buck teeth and three eyes – assuming there aren’t any genetic-flaw issues in the parents, it would take several generations of inbreeding before genetic issues became a problem.
(In fact, inbreeding and linebreeding (crossing back to an ancestor) are commonly used practices in animal husbandry in order to fix desirable genetic traits in a breed.
So, from a purely scientific standpoint, the automatic “Don’t Do It!!” instinct is bizzare and inexplicable. The moral standpoint is, of course, another overflowing kettle of axolotls.
Actually, sex between siblings does have a much higher rate of both major birth defects and minor “issues”, it’s just not a certain thing. Remember that even ordinary siblings can range from 0% to 95% overlap. (Assuming opposite gender.) And even if the kid looks more-or-less normal, they’re still more likely to have stuff like immune flaws or neurological quirks. (In this universe, that would suggest Madness….)
The incest-avoiding “instinct” (actually prepared learning, see Westermarck effect) is very much necessary, basically because siblings are even closer than the boy/girl next door.
Inbreeding in animals is useful only because with animals, you can summarily dispose of the sickly, deformed, or otherwise problematic ones. That’s what lets you select out the opposites, the ones that hew more closely to whatever you’re breeding for.
Just to add a note to the instinct, it only applies to people you saw frequently before the age of 5, so sexual attraction is not actually hindered by that in this case.
Yes, but if the brother sister pair were *identical* rather than merely similar, the offspring would have no fear of undesired enhanced traits (??). But of course there are *always* be minor mutations so Oboros situations won’t actually occur. Self-generation through grandmother sex would never work.
It would be much worse. We all have a few lethal recessive genes. Identical twin matings would be very likely to amplify these, though we’ve not seen it in reality because it would need mad science to even implement. 🙂
It is due to the forced expression of recessive genes.
Conceivably, positive traits can come of such inbreeding as well, but they rarely outweigh the the negative.
That being said, this is one mechanism by which new species arise, if the tiny population can survive the onslaught of negative results.
Oh, wait. Yeah, I was making the erroneous assumption that if the partner had the *exact* genes as oneself the offspring would have identical genes to as the genes it got from the father would be the same as the gene from the mother and there’d be no way of variation.
But, duh, individuals have two sets of genes to chose from. So producing an identical offspring is as impossible with yourself as with anyone else. *All* the Ooroborus stories are impossible.
To be honest, I didn’t get the impression from the first several Rebecca strips that there was much attraction going on. I guess, for Tips it always assumed and never stated.
Yes, but… now it’s confirmed that Alt!Tip has Tip’s sex drive. In a universe where women’s sex drives were flipped to androcidal rage in the recent past.
Our Tip might be well advised to keep a safe distance. (Wouldn’t follow the advice, but still.)
I love myself, I want me to love me
When I’m feeling weird, I want myself above me
I search this place, I want myself to find me
When I forget you are myself, I want you to remind me
Oh, In this alt-Universe
I met my alt-U twin, Now can I touch myself?
Oh, A-sig agent says I can’t, oh, no
Oh, no, oh, no
To the tune, more or less, of The Divinyls “I Touch Myself”
I love myself, I want me to love me
When I’m feeling weird, I want myself above me
I search this place, I want myself to find me
When I forget you are myself, I want you to remind me
Oh, In this alt-Universe
I met my alt-U twin, Now can I touch myself?
Oh, A-sig agent says I can’t, oh, no
Oh, no, oh, no
Personally I think that he realised (if only subconsciously) that she was trying to seduce him for nefarious purposes rather than actually being interested in him.
To be honest, I didn’t get the impression from the first several Rebecca strips that there was much attraction going on. I guess, for Tips it always assumed and never stated.
I just had a thought, and I realize this is wholly unrelated to anything currently happening with today’s comic or the Looking Glass Land arc, but bear with me:
What if Gold Bug has something to do with the real life mysterious leaver/leavers of cryptic messages known as “Cicada 3301“?
The universe has two types of people:
Those who assume it’d be obvious that alternatives would have sex.
And those who think they are clever and unique to come up with the idea.
The third and fourth types, those who never think of it or those who decide to not pursue the idea, don’t seem to exist.
Okay, well that answers any questions or misconceptions I had.
I predict that Dr. Mendoza and Rebecca will have sex.
And then Tip will have sex with Dr. Mendoza.
And then they will have a ménage a 3 with Dr. Mendoza to just see how close they can skirt the issue.
No matter the Universe Tip Wilkin is a slut puppy.
:>))
Sweetheart resents that remark. In no way is Tip Wilkin a puppy. Well, at least not since the werewolf thing.
Sweetheart also resents the implication of pedophilia :p
“Sweetheart resents”.
That should be on a T-shirt.
Well it’s not technically incest / selfcest if the parents are from different dimensions… I think.
They’re still siblings, genetically, and depending on when the dimensions “branched off”, each Tip’s parents might have been indistinguishable (up til the moment Tip was conceived, anyway).
But, who cares? If there’s consent and there’s contraception, cui malo?
Yeah. It’d be different if they grew up together or something, but they’re both adults who simply happen to be a genetic counselor’s worst nightmare.
Honestly I don’t see what difference them growing up together would make, except that if they had they would be less likely to want to.
You did that just to shut up the readers, didn’t you, Shaenon?
Nah, this comic has always been sex-obsessed. Even Nick, who has no biological body, is sex-obsessed – and anything involving Tip invariably includes sex. Two Tips? the subject had to come up (the double entendre is unavoidable).
I think the comment was referring to the copy/sister/daughter speculation. Not the sex.
Ah. Then yes.
I like Rebecca’s smile in the last panel
JSS: But why the immediate flip from sad face? Is she looking at Unity?
She is simply thinking how long it has been since there have been males around to boink
The verb you’re looking for in Narbonic or Skin Horse is ‘goink’ actuallly :p
And yes, though if she’s anything like Tip she’s also bisexual. But then who the heck KNOWS whether that’s genetic or not.
I tend to think of sexual preferences (or lack thereof) as a matter of taste. They can evolve with time but you can’t force them to change, and in the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whatever you like as long as you share them with people who enjoys them too.
Well if all the males have been killed in this universe, Rebecca’s pretty much stuck with other women. Plus or minus the existence of non-human sentients in this reality, though.
Actually from all the sci-fi I’ve read sex with your self *is* okay (almost required). So … genetically similar = icky but genetically identical is okay. Kind of weird.
Oh, wait. Genetically identical *is* okay…. never mind.
It’s the sex with your grandmother that never makes any sense when you think about it.
They never give Philip J. Fry a break on that one
There’s also the fact that (contrary to the popular conception) reproduction between genetically similar people doesn’t result in the baby having buck teeth and three eyes – assuming there aren’t any genetic-flaw issues in the parents, it would take several generations of inbreeding before genetic issues became a problem.
(In fact, inbreeding and linebreeding (crossing back to an ancestor) are commonly used practices in animal husbandry in order to fix desirable genetic traits in a breed.
So, from a purely scientific standpoint, the automatic “Don’t Do It!!” instinct is bizzare and inexplicable. The moral standpoint is, of course, another overflowing kettle of axolotls.
Actually, sex between siblings does have a much higher rate of both major birth defects and minor “issues”, it’s just not a certain thing. Remember that even ordinary siblings can range from 0% to 95% overlap. (Assuming opposite gender.) And even if the kid looks more-or-less normal, they’re still more likely to have stuff like immune flaws or neurological quirks. (In this universe, that would suggest Madness….)
The incest-avoiding “instinct” (actually prepared learning, see Westermarck effect) is very much necessary, basically because siblings are even closer than the boy/girl next door.
Inbreeding in animals is useful only because with animals, you can summarily dispose of the sickly, deformed, or otherwise problematic ones. That’s what lets you select out the opposites, the ones that hew more closely to whatever you’re breeding for.
Just to add a note to the instinct, it only applies to people you saw frequently before the age of 5, so sexual attraction is not actually hindered by that in this case.
Yes, but if the brother sister pair were *identical* rather than merely similar, the offspring would have no fear of undesired enhanced traits (??). But of course there are *always* be minor mutations so Oboros situations won’t actually occur. Self-generation through grandmother sex would never work.
It would be much worse. We all have a few lethal recessive genes. Identical twin matings would be very likely to amplify these, though we’ve not seen it in reality because it would need mad science to even implement. 🙂
It is due to the forced expression of recessive genes.
Conceivably, positive traits can come of such inbreeding as well, but they rarely outweigh the the negative.
That being said, this is one mechanism by which new species arise, if the tiny population can survive the onslaught of negative results.
Oh, wait. Yeah, I was making the erroneous assumption that if the partner had the *exact* genes as oneself the offspring would have identical genes to as the genes it got from the father would be the same as the gene from the mother and there’d be no way of variation.
But, duh, individuals have two sets of genes to chose from. So producing an identical offspring is as impossible with yourself as with anyone else. *All* the Ooroborus stories are impossible.
Duh!
To be honest, I didn’t get the impression from the first several Rebecca strips that there was much attraction going on. I guess, for Tips it always assumed and never stated.
See the movie “Timerider” for that one . . .
…if sex is out there’s always the possibility of a good make-over! The other of Life’s pleasures.
Yes, but… now it’s confirmed that Alt!Tip has Tip’s sex drive. In a universe where women’s sex drives were flipped to androcidal rage in the recent past.
Our Tip might be well advised to keep a safe distance. (Wouldn’t follow the advice, but still.)
Well, she CLAIMS it’s cured and she’s clearly been thinking about goinking Tip without seeming noticably angry so we have some reason to believe her.
Okay, guess that rules out what they were doing behind that wall… or does? o_O
Wait, what friends would A-Tip have, when she was hiding alone? o_O
The fact she’s currently wandering the wastes alone doesn’t mean she doesn’t have friends back in Bartertown or wherever.
I love myself, I want me to love me
When I’m feeling weird, I want myself above me
I search this place, I want myself to find me
When I forget you are myself, I want you to remind me
Oh, In this alt-Universe
I met my alt-U twin, Now can I touch myself?
Oh, A-sig agent says I can’t, oh, no
Oh, no, oh, no
To the tune, more or less, of The Divinyls “I Touch Myself”
I love myself, I want me to love me
When I’m feeling weird, I want myself above me
I search this place, I want myself to find me
When I forget you are myself, I want you to remind me
Oh, In this alt-Universe
I met my alt-U twin, Now can I touch myself?
Oh, A-sig agent says I can’t, oh, no
Oh, no, oh, no
Maybe it’d be creepy if she wanted to watch…
If they are the same person, wouldn’t it be more like masturbation then?
Is this the first time that Tip voluntarily decided not to have sex with a woman?
He repeatedly rebuffed Violet Bee. Of course she turned out to be a man operating a robotic drone but Tip didn’t actually know that.
Personally I think that he realised (if only subconsciously) that she was trying to seduce him for nefarious purposes rather than actually being interested in him.
To be honest, I didn’t get the impression from the first several Rebecca strips that there was much attraction going on. I guess, for Tips it always assumed and never stated.
Arrgh. that comment wasn’t supposed to be a reply. It was supposed to be an original stand alone comment!
Anyway “Is this the first time that Tip voluntarily decided not to have sex with a woman?”
Technically speaking, *every* time Tip doesn’t have sex with a woman he is doing it voluntarily.
The sigh in panel 3 was apparently echoed by dozens of readers. Alas, alack.
I just had a thought, and I realize this is wholly unrelated to anything currently happening with today’s comic or the Looking Glass Land arc, but bear with me:
What if Gold Bug has something to do with the real life mysterious leaver/leavers of cryptic messages known as “Cicada 3301“?
Hey, having sex with his alternate-universe self was good-enough for Dave Lister, why isn’t it good-enough for Tip?
Admittedly, that’s setting the bar pretty low. 😛
The universe has two types of people:
Those who assume it’d be obvious that alternatives would have sex.
And those who think they are clever and unique to come up with the idea.
The third and fourth types, those who never think of it or those who decide to not pursue the idea, don’t seem to exist.
Well, it’s just a variation on a quote from Annie Hall:
Alvy Singer: Hey, don’t knock masturbation. It’s sex with someone I love.
Isaac Asimov wrote a filk about this situation. This is what I remember of it:
“Oh give me a clone, a clone of my own,
With the the Y traded in for an X,
Then when we’re alone
I and my clone
Will always have nothing but sex.”