5 Women in Al's Life

asearcher

Project QL Intern
Jul 1, 2005
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As a parent, it would be more likely that the names would be either pulled from Al's and Beth's families or to names that only seem good to both parents! My first son was named for both of his grandfathers and my second son was named just cause we liked the name. I can absolutely say we would not have named either child from a previous romantic relationship. Even if technically, Al's relationships wouldn't have happened in the new timeline, there'd still be romantic connotations! Not a good thing to have with your children (gets a bit to much like Edipus!).:hair

I like the names in the VS.;)

Helen in Colorado
 
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I really wish I remembered who on this board suggested it long ago, but I seem to recall them saying that they thought they heard or read that if QL had continued into a Sixth Season, we would have started to hear Al getting his daughters confused, instead of his wives...i.e. "She reminds me of my third...second? No, my fourth daughter." It does seem like a logical "substitute" for Al's former ex-wives, doesn't it? All I do remember at this point is that I read that and thought, 'Whoa...that makes sense! What a neat idea!' Kind of like Time "correcting itself," as it were...

And on that note, I really think we need to start incorporating that confusion into the Virtual Seasons. Perhaps one of us will at some point... :rolleyes

EDIT: I forgot to add, I've seen some people also give Al's daughters the names of each of Al's ex-wives so as to balance things out even further. Aurora did that in her Quanta-Dimensional Leap radio play: Al and Beths' daughters names were Sharon, Ruthie, Janet, and Maxine (Sharon, Ruth, and Maxine were established as the names of three of Al's ex-wives; the fourth ex-wife's name was never given.) It DOES make you wonder... :)
 
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There's a GREAT story....actually, I do believe it was one of the first pieces of fanfiction I ever read....by Gina Goff called AFTERIMAGE that was *my* first encounter with Al's daughters being named after his ex-wives. (written in 1993....I believe I read it in early 1995)

It's accessible in the QL-Archive (maintained by Mark Baushke). http://www.ql-archive.org/alt.ql.creative/afterimage/

I'd also like to point out that Gina credits Beth Hlabse with speculation of Al's daughters sharing the names of his ex-wives...and thus sparking the story idea.

And I, too, was instantly struck upon seeing Mirror Image the first time....of the "balance" if you will of Al and 5 women in both timelines. :)
 
asearcher said:
As a parent, it would be more likely that the names would be either pulled from Al's and Beth's families or to names that only seem good to both parents! My first son was named for both of his grandfathers and my second son was named just cause we liked the name. I can absolutely say we would not have named either child from a previous romantic relationship. Even if technically, Al's relationships wouldn't have happened in the new timeline, there'd still be romantic connotations! Not a good thing to have with your children (gets a bit to much like Edipus!).:hair

I like the names in the VS.;)

Helen in Colorado

I have to agree with you, Helen. :) Assuming Al would have no memory of the previous timeline at the time in which the daughters were named, though, for him, I assume would reduce the creepiness factor. Of course....you do have to think what would happen when the "old truth" came out, as it were. How would Al react? How would Beth react? And, since kids can usually find stuff out by some means (laughingly thinking of "Extendable Ears" from the two most recent Harry Potter books)...how would THEY in turn react?

I also think Al and Beth would choose names either for other family members or that were meaningful to them in some way. (In my story, I gave one of their daughters Gertrude for a middle name, after Trudy.)
 
If you think about it, the balance of five women in Al's life in either timeline suggests a bit of irony, which is that Sam and Al spent the series changing fate, yet it seems that they can't change fate. Sam's destiny was to change other peoples' destinies, and Al's was to have many women in his life, whether they're wives or children. I'd like to think of it as fate rather than a coincidence that Al just happened to have four daughters. God, Fate, or Time could very well have played a hand in "replacing" each of these women with people who would have made him happier. It's nice to know that rather than each woman in Al's life causing him some sort of misery (constantly getting sued for alimony and whatnot), he'd have more happiness through the lives of his daughters. I also believe that Al would no doubt get his daughters confused just as he did with his wives. :)
 
so as I read about Al and the new time line I don't ever recall any new time line happening. I have not seen Mirror Image as of yet. nor the 5 Seasons yet. I only have 1-3 of the box sets right now. Is it because of Mirror Image that you all know this..? being I am new maybe I haven't got that far yet.

-Julie
 
Mirror Image turned the whole QL series on its ear and divided many fans. It alienated me for sure.
 
No, NBC had already canceled the show, and "Mirror Image" had been written before the news broke to Don Bellisario. An alternate ending was written but never filmed after he'd found out.
 
Yeah, Don wanted to leave the door open to possibally revisit the series. And if the series was wrapped up in a nice neat little bow, then some QL fans might have went, "Oh Goody" and moved on