Post "Spilling Their Guts" by "jephjacques"

legobil

Plot twist: real actual sea cucumbers run their consciousness in a distributed form just as Yay.

Darius Jenai

Based on some of the other scenes we've seen, they can drink they just don't need to. Like Millefuille drinking Ouzo with Brun (and it later coming out as 'tears').

Ursus Ridens

Yay is gender-ambiguous. Y'know, like some folks are.

Ursus Ridens

...slime girl? Short Netherlandish gobliin?? [Cue evil_snicker.wav]

BobC

@Miyaa It would be cool if Patreon comments included font selection. Then again, I recently went deep into the font basement to help friends pick nontraditional fonts for their daughter's nontraditional wedding invitations. There are lots of hilarious and absurd fonts out there! We were giggling and snickering as we printed some samples, only about 10% of which were serious candidates. Reminded me of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLLPzea-db0 In the end, my friends went with a professional calligrapher for the master, which was some of the best money they've spent so far on the wedding.

KingAtticus

The title of this comic being a reference to sea cucumbers as well as Roko expressing her concerns is appreciated

Miyaa

Don’t confuse dingbats for webdings or wingding fonts.

GoMrBob

I was thinking the same! That is a drinking pose. But thank you BookBeard, that makes sense.

BookBeard

Well with Dora getting married she's been busier than usual as the assistant manager at coffee of doI MEAN NOTHING! YOU HEARD NOTHING!

BookBeard

Yeah, Yay is going to have their work cut out for them if/when they return. Smoothing this over with Roko will be no small task.

legobil

I still can’t get over Yays grotesque from during their encounter with Moray. My theory is that the whole encounter just lasted a brief moment before Yay eloped and was some kind of internal communication method between the two AI, but yeah. Would love to see more of that.

Melissa Wilson

23% better may still be insufficient for widespread convincing. 123%?

Melissa Wilson

And boy was Antimony in trouble!

Melissa Wilson

Only if you decide that it’s also important to eat, sleep, maintain other commitments… 😏

Melissa Wilson

FKA Scarecrow Boat?

Melissa Wilson

Surely, possessing the ability to manifest various instances, they would experiment with many forms… Sea cucumber, giraffe, tapir, yak…

Mark

The Director wants to be friends with them and seems to be as adorkable as Moray (understandably).

Mark

We've never seen Pizzagirl and Yay together...

legobil

Same. 🥺

legobil

Yesssssss.

Nulgar

Do you happen to read Gunnerkrigg Court? Something similar happened there recent-ish (almost 7 years ago)

Matt Grayson

Yay and the Director are on their honeymoon?

AlexKorobeiniki

There must be many things that frustrate such people. Idk, always seemed like a skill issue to me, it’s not that hard to get.

BookBeard

I think she just raised it to her nose to get a good sniff.

Wild Card

Bubbles is drinking the tea? I thought robots just sniff the smell of it, not consume it.

Mabel Zanders

if i were roko and yay came back after MONTHS of straight up ghosting with nothing more than an "i had to do that" explanation, id personally never forgive them. ive been hurt that way before, it doesnt go away easily or quickly. just saying.

Opus the Poet

What might get Yay out of the cold might be she needs more socializing than just literally talking to themselves.

Joe

Melodramatic Ding-dong is the name of my new house/yacht rock band.

legobil

Those are some fancy words to describe a penis and/or vagina. 🤣🤣

Fabio Neves

The real question is where has Pizzagirl been this whole time

Mitsuki Ayane

the conspiracy thickens! ~<3

Likeablejerk

In addition to what others have said, there's the difference that Station and The Director are known entities to the government. They may not know or understand everything about them, but they know that they exist. By contrast, Yay has done everything in their power to stay entirely unknown to everyone, particularly governments, only having recently relaxed that upon finding value in making social connections.

Miyaa

Cant… hold… on… much longer!

BookBeard

Yet.

BobC

Finally. A strip where the mug does no trans-dimensional leaps.

Hugh Eckert

Or a dingbat.

Joseph Bonnar

I thought I'd deleted this one. CURSE YOU, DELETE KEY!!!

Miyaa

Definitely shipping Winslayo.

Miyaa

According to Wiki: “Sea cucumbers are typically dioecious, with separate male and female individuals, but some species are protandric. The reproductive system consists of a single gonad, consisting of a cluster of tubules emptying into a single duct that opens on the upper surface of the animal, close to the tentacles.” So basically all of the above, which must frustrate those who believe in a two genders system to no end.

Miyaa

It’s gonna take a whole week for me to read all the comics.

Hugh Eckert

Our dog is a melodramatic ding-dong (also a good girl), so I'll use it on her.

SilverbackRon

Oh god that is so real! Except for multiply embodiment thing. They could still be out doing other stuff.

Igor Mosyagin

Ngl, I'm a bit crushed with all this Roko suffering and Yay disappearing

BookBeard

Some of them might even be wired for hugs. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5258

BookBeard

That's why Aurelia is in hiding too, having been replaced by a sophisticated android duplicate that Yay designed to be identical to her in every way, but 23% better at lying. It's so obvious.

BookBeard

But how does it end? Cliffhazard? Cliffhaberdashery? Cliffhamster!?! WE NEED TO KNOW!!!!

Am Queue

Embrace the power of, 'and'.

BookBeard

So then it all comes down to the gender of the sea cucumber.

Philip Masters

"Potentially dangerous" in the analysis of a hyperintelligent paranoiac, note.

Philip Masters

Bubbles gets interesting effects from the *scent* of tea. She's breathing dee... err, running the input fans on her chemosensor array at high speed.

Dave Wilson

Just fell off around when Martin was looking to open up his shop

Dave Wilson

I've done that several times in the last.... *cough cough years*

Philip Masters

Well, the US authorities freaked out a little when one of the Director's creations was drawn to their attention. But Yay's specific worry is that the basis of their existence - running a single consciousness across multiple processors, granting them vast processing power - is not only unique, but theoretically impossible. That makes them especially interesting to too many people, if their existence becomes known. Of course, Yay does overestimate themselves a bit; they thought that they could just walk through any existing computer security, but the Director apparently spotted them without much trouble. So either Yay isn't quite as special as they thought, or the rest of the world doesn't quite appreciate how powerful the Director is. But governments and the alphabet soup agencies presumably play it a little bit careful around powerful AIs; not only are they, well, powerful, but you don't want any of the more publicly visible high-end AIs like Station thinking that their rights and personal privacy are in danger. Especially not the ones who already control orbital battle stations. Which said, being invisible to those agencies may keep Yay safer in some ways, and suits their paranoia, but it also puts them at greater risk of being treated as a threat and fair game by other AIs as well as governments if they do become visible. Paranoids and unknown forces are inherently scary to everyone. But Yay considers that better than being visible.

BookBeard

Start here and work your way up. That's how I do it. ;) https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1

Mitsuki Ayane

maybe she's been playing a reeeeeeeeeally long con. ~<3

Summer

They may deny being a ding-dong, but they will NEVER deny being a sea cucumber.

Stephen Wells

And Bubbles goes all shivery when Faye runs her hands up and down her (redacted)

Mark

Given that, at least in her old body, she had ticklish feet, probably. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3567 Moray seems to enjoy hugging people https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5489

Drew Blas

I REALLY hope this is leading to Yay coming back, they are one of my absolute favorites, I want to know what's been going on!!!

BookBeard

The Director and Station are certainly just as powerful, but the thing that makes Yay different is the fact that they are multiply embodied, which is believed to be impossible. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4591

Melissa Wilson

Yes, BookBeard! & I expect they have ZERO awareness of the fact that they’ve been at this deliberation for months, or that it has been excruciating for those that care about them… Will they be inappropriately & egotistically validated when they learn about this? Or, in an unprecedented surge of character development, will they feel sorry for said dear ones, when they become aware of the anguish provoked by their radio silence? I can’t wait to find out!

Melissa Wilson

Fascinating theory; I’d buy it.

Dave Wilson

Ty, ill pop back there. Got a few hours in an airport so thats some of the time made up

BrenaMarie

I want to use "melodramatic ding-dong" to describe my nearest and dearest, but none of them are particularly melodramatic.

Alias Fakename

And Aurelia is a horrible liar. If she knows, we'd know she knows. Y'know?

Stephen Wells

IIRC they've described themselves and their bespoke custom chassis as "gender non-committal".

Stephen Wells

My headcanon fanfic resolution is that most of Yay have chosen to disappear permanently (possibly to Enceladus) but that ONE of Yay chose to remain as a single entity and shows up at Roko's door saying "It's m- m- m- m- me. It's... me" also they brought baguettes. I may have thought about this too much.

Joseph Bonnar

And, of course, CLIFFHANGER!!!

legobil

5100 is not a bad start off point, recruitment of Ayo and so on.

legobil

The entire storyline started a few hundred strips back with Liz visiting North Hampton, Moray following close behind and then a night out clubbing.

legobil

I wonder how The Director (or Station, for that matter) and Yay are really different, from the viewpoint of governments and research and stuff like that. Like, Yay chose to live covertly while The Director chose to surround himself in the compound that is Cubetown. But wouldn’t both be under equal threat of coming under scrutiny?

Dave Wilson

When did yay go AWOL? been gone for a while and im playing catchup

Opus the Poet

Do AIs respond to hugs, though?

Anders Rapp

As long as they talk about something other than men!

Sparky

Maybe Yay needed a safe space first to protect their friends if needed. But they owe Roko hugs & apologies real soon now.

AlexKorobeiniki

Does it still pass the bechdel test when two female characters discuss an agender, all powerful (?) uber-ai?

Graydon Armstrong

Nah, a bit of that would normally provoke them, but if it had to continue for quite a while, I think it would have the opposite effect; why would you want to show up to someone who criticises you daily.

Graydon Armstrong

Nah, Aurelia hasn't seen any sign of them either, unless you mean Aurelia was lying for them, but I think she would've mom-guilted Yay into letting her tell Roko at least that they were okay.

BobC

Unless they're gone because they were caught and sent to Sing Sing.

Joseph Bonnar

A thought: Yay went to talk to the Director, who thinks on a totally different time scale. All this time Yay has thought they were in a half hour conversation; but it just took, um, half a year?

Joseph Bonnar

And, of course... CLIFFH A

Ísabel Pirsic

so, a trit of a ding-dong-dang? or a qBit of a døng?

Michael Steamweed

That's funny! I'm not going to give you just one Ho Ho; I'm going to give you two Ho Ho's!

legobil

Hah, ”Yay bursts in to deny being a ding-dong” was my exact first thought too.

Ursus Ridens

May we hope that Yay reappears at Roko's door saying, "Socially appropriate greeting!"?

Mitsuki Ayane

inb4 we find you Yay has just been hiding out at Aurelia's place this whole time, keeping it a secret from everyone. ~<3

Michael Steamweed

A bit is binary. Yay is as non-binary as they come. :D

Smashy smashy

Alas, if they were a ding-a-ling, we could simply give them a ring-a-ling when we wanted them.

Minzoku Bokumetsu

"We are not a BIT of a ding-dong! We are a BYTE of a ding-dong!!"

Miyaa

Yay is more like Melon than they would like to admit. Speaking of which, what is Melon doing these days? And Lemon too?

Bagge

Yay are still stuck in the VIP-Room because they won't cede their Very Important Personhood

Olaf

Yay should get that on a t-shirt: "We are a bit of a ding-dong, yes."

Zynkei

Indeed, although in the very next comic she says she can't eat apples, so I suppose I misremembered after all.

Call me Ishmael.

They also use "we", not "I".

Eric Pike

I'm sorry but that last panel with Bubs fuckkn SENT ME

Sorastro

In all honesty, I believe that Yay uses they/them more because of their plurality than out of any sense of gender. Granted, if I'm wrong, I don't really view them any differently, I will just stand corrected.

Todd Ellner

Love is blind. And often deaf

Todd Ellner

Bingo.

Todd Ellner

Sea cucumber is generous. And for all their intelligence Yay is impulsive with a strong "out of sight, out of mind" MO

BookBeard

I believe this is the conversation you are thinking of. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3586

Sleepy John

Put WE MISS YOU YAY signs on Hercules and Cosmo. If anything will do it , that will.

BookBeard

I don't think Yay knows if they are coming back or not. I think they are off in their hidey hole somewhere debating endlessly with themselves over the same options they once discussed with Roko: whether to simply disappear or to consolidate themselves down to one body and return. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4596

Andrea Andrew

Poor Roko. Months, huh?

Ashbury Haight

I want to hug Panel 5 Roko so bad oh my god

enchantedsleeper

No-one knows where Yay's dogs live, though. They rented a charging pod in Roko's building but the dogs lived elsewhere.

Doc Gumby

I'll bet Yay had arrangements in place for the pups. An omniscient AI surely wouldn't have let their hubris get in the way, right? . . . Right?

J

Tbf Yay could have tattooed it to Roko’s forehead and I think she would still have doubt (hope?). Grief be like that

BobC

Not a ding-dong. More of a ding-a-ling, me thinks.

Doc Gumby

All the sea cucumbers I know are fervent readers of QC. All of them.

BookBeard

Apparently not clear enough, given Roko's continued uncertainty.

PsychOut

She's just posing like the Kermit drinking tea meme

Carl Fink

I mean, Jeph did write the story of a malign AI wiping Bubbles' memory and laughing. (Laughing can be taken as metaphoric.)

Melissa Wilson

Please don’t! Word play only extends one’s welcome with this crowd, JMK. 😉

Darren Franzen

The note card read “It’s been fun.”

Zynkei

Two things - first, has ANYONE checked on Yay's dogs since they vanished?! Second, is Bubbles actually drinking the tea in that last panel, or just smelling? I think I vaguely remember early in the introduction to Bubbles that she said she had the capability to consume food and drink, it just did nothing for her. I may be misremembering, though.

Zynkei

*insert captain America "I understood that reference" meme*

Melissa Wilson

Certainly not to be confused with a Ho-ho, either!

J

I’m a massive cynic but I feel like they *did* make it explicitly clear. I adore Bubbles’ optimism

Melissa Wilson

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single expression illustrate the proximity of love & loathing more effectively than the one Roko’s wearing in that last panel.

Melissa Wilson

Incensed, I headed straight here, positively *bristling* with righteous fervor, prepared to rant in defense of the charming & gregarious sea cucumber (groomer of coral, recycler of nutrients) only to discover that Doc beat me to it. Chapeau!

William Cole

Yeah, I think a daily regimen of criticizing Yay would have to get results eventually. Maybe focus especially on their maturity and questioning their omniscience.

SpookyPenguin

"We do not ring, we doom"

Studio Errilhl

It really wasn't meant that serious 🤦 it was just a what if joke. I've read the series since it started, I know how it works

William Cole

I only date Krimpets.

Zig Justice

Ding dong, man, ding dong! Ding dong, yo!

Green

Another potential is that Yay is aware of how much the situation is torturing Roko, but that it could be potentially dangerous for Roko to know anything concrete, so Yay has to keep their distance

Doc Gumby

Thunder: Yes they are, but you know they're trying hard not to show it. Being gallant.

David Durant

Yay uses they / them pronouns. It's extremely unlikely that Yay is any situation against their will. Partly because they're immensely powerful, partly because the other super-AIs like the Director and Station wouldn't allow it - but mostly because that's not the kind of story Jeph writes. This is an extremely good slice-of-life comic in a world just a little different our own. Jeph doesn't do politics or action.

Sean Kinlin

It just occurred to me: "spilling their guts" is kind of a sea cucumber joke, isn't it?

Green

I said it before and I'll say it again, I also really wanna know how Melon has been taking this too :(

Studio Errilhl

Ah, fair enough, I had honestly forgotten. Apologies.

JMK

Could yay be a Twink-ie? I’ll see myself out

Sean Kinlin

Socially adept, but not very good financially; they're pretty far underwater.

Maurice Kessler

If there was any way to provoke Yay into a response....

Sean Kinlin

Yay is they/them.

Paul Higdon

I miss Yay. Time to re-read their entrance saga.

Sean Kinlin

Does it have to be in a bathroom, in the dark?

Studio Errilhl

But then again, if she CARED, and didn't want Roko to suffer, she could've... Found a way to send a message. Which might mean she IS in an AI blacksite