The Ol' Howl & Giggle -

The Ol' Howl & Giggle -

songcoyote

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	[Feb. 6th, 2009\|02:13 pm]
This comic made me cry. I'm not sure if I can articulate why. It might be necessary to read the whole archive (which I highly recommend; it's a fun comic) to understand why it was so intense to see this happen to Florence. http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1600/fc01571.htm Basically: Florence is smart, interesting, creative, and nice. The idea of someone having such direct control over her in that way is disturbing. I hope we treat whatever biological AIs we create well enough that they see as as she does, whether we put "safeguard" like that in place or not. My brain is a complex place sometimes, but I prefer that to simple. Light and laughter, SongCoyote
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Comments:

From:

chipuni
2009-02-06 11:01 pm (UTC)

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The strip's writer-artist, Mark Stanley, knows that a secret to great writing is to hit favorite characters where they can't hit back.

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From:

songcoyote
2009-02-06 11:34 pm (UTC)

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Erf... interesting (and scary) thought.

As an aside, I was going through his fan art (some of which is quite lovely) and realized that I would fall for Flo just as easily as Winston (perhaps more so, as I am more congnizant of my xenophilic tendencies). The thought made me blush on several levels :)

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

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From:

donsimpson
2009-02-08 07:54 pm (UTC)

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Freefall is a subtle and thoughtful examination of various kinds of non-human intelligence and their interactions among themselves and with humans, done in a deceptively simple style full of comic tropes and wacky hijinks. There's lots of other stuff going on, but once you start citing themes and examples it's hard to stop.

The combination of slow and serious with fast and funny goes back a ways; I first really noticed it in Stan Linde's western strip Rick O'Shay, but a lot of comics writers attempt it with more or less success. The serious thread gives depth and bite to the humor, and the humor gives sardonic insights about the serious.

It's easy to love Florence, but once you start citing reasons and examples it's hard to stop.

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From:

songcoyote
2009-02-09 05:34 am (UTC)

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Thanks for the thoughts, Don. You put a clearer name to what I could not.

Two other favorites that manage this for me are Schlock Mercenary and Order of the Stick. The Foglios also do it well, I think.

Anyway, I agree about how easy it is to love Florence :) Thanks again!

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

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From:

donsimpson
2009-02-12 01:12 pm (UTC)

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And, come to think of it, isn't Sam rather Coyote-like in his approach to life? In which case, who is Helix?

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From:

songcoyote
2009-02-12 04:07 pm (UTC)

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Hmm... that's much trickier. Helix is inherently good and has conflicts with Sam/Coyote's ways. Helix is also game for adventure and finding ways to do more than programming or other structure (or stricture) would allow.

I wonder if they're just two sides of Coyote's mind?

Light and laughter,
SongCoyote

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