Tomorrow is Waiting (Still)

February 26, 2022 6:46 PM

brainwane has posted extraordinary numbers of wonderful stories to MetaFilter - but my very favorite was posted back in 2013. "Tomorrow Is Waiting", a short science fiction story by Holli Mintzer, published in Strange Horizons, finds a student's half-hearted AI project gone delightfully out of control. It is the best story about Kermit the Frog you will ever read. Author Holli Mintzer appeared in the original post. Happy Doubles Jubilee!
posted by kristi (18 comments total)

I loved this story then, and I love this story now at least just as much. Thanks, kristi!
posted by cgc373 at 6:57 PM on February 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

Awwwwwww!
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:32 PM on February 26, 2022

Oh that's lovely! Thanks for the jubilee, I missed it the first time around.
posted by tavella at 7:50 PM on February 26, 2022

Heh. I had the same thought as brainwane did in the original post: Kermit being public domain fifty years out makes it a utopian fiction.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:55 PM on February 26, 2022 [5 favorites]

Thanks. I didn't think I needed that but I needed that.
posted by Richard Upton Pickman at 8:18 PM on February 26, 2022

God today has just been a lot and I’ve been sore and tired and vaguely sad all day and now I’m sitting in the tub crying happy tears over this story thank you.
posted by FritoKAL at 9:40 PM on February 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I remember this post too! What a sweet story.
posted by q*ben at 10:48 PM on February 26, 2022

Thanks for this! It made me nostalgic of the past and hopeful for the future, at the same time. And funny thing is that the Muppets used to do the same thing to me.
posted by fregoli at 1:06 AM on February 27, 2022

It's all fun and games until Waldorf and Astoria load their code onto the web and start trolling everyone literally 24/7.

But, seriously, this may be the brightest timeline.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:06 PM on February 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

This is the best story about Kermit the frog I have ever read.
posted by Acari at 4:56 PM on February 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

brainwane is a hero!

And thank you for the repost — this was a lovely short story.
posted by fire, water, earth, air at 12:44 PM on March 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also

He didn't say anything for a while, looking down at his small green hands, then tipping his head to one side thoughtfully. "Well," he said, "I know I used to be a puppet frog, and now I'm a robot frog, but I think I'm still a real frog. I think I always was."

is *really* good Kermit voice. Could absolutely hear it.
posted by tavella at 3:53 PM on March 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

I think the reason why this story is still enjoyable, even after all the AI shenanigans in the years between publishing and today, is that it is kind of an inverse Twilight Zone about the garbage in / garbage out nature of AI training. Except in this case, the inventor picked a training set that was filled with warmth and compassion, and got something greater than they expected instead of less. Kermit is perfect for this because his outlook and behavior is clearly nonhuman, but in a way that is better than us. But that we could all be frogs…
posted by q*ben at 7:53 AM on March 3, 2022

In the original discussion thread we also saw some comments preferring a grimdark approach to the premise. It sounds like you, and those commenters, should make front page posts celebrating stories you like!

Have you considered that your assessment of this story's merits might need to be adapted to the genre this story is in? I suspect you are mistaking your taste in subgenres for an objective assessment.
posted by brainwane at 6:40 PM on March 3, 2022 [3 favorites]

"This story is not the horror story I want and therefore it is a badly written story" is a... take.
posted by tavella at 3:53 PM on March 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

I suggested you consider your taste in subgenres because I think you may be missing how this story succeeds at narrative elements such as character; genre informs what a story is trying to do and thus how to assess its merits. For instance, if you usually enjoy horror but do not enjoy romance, you probably prefer external over internal conflict, and prefer existential stakes over personal stakes. As a fiction writer, can you stretch yourself to find an interesting riff on this premise that retains this story's strengths in interior character, relatable stakes, and the satisfaction of a happy ending that the protagonist earns through her courage and sacrifice?

Nancy Pearl's "Four Doorways" approach to understanding what you like in fiction may help you here, also.
posted by brainwane at 6:55 PM on March 4, 2022 [2 favorites]

Dude, I think we've all figured out that you wanted a different story. I suggest you go and write it.
posted by tavella at 6:44 AM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

Mod note: Some comments removed at the commenter's request; apologies for the resulting swiss cheese.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:03 PM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]