Post "Questionable Context" by "jephjacques"

skinnybdink

the QC wiki is a LIFESAVER

Zygo

This is the famous Yay & Moray duet from "Questionable Content: The Musical"

Neil Moore

> Horseradish Oh, you mean westerner wasabi?

Green

All the drinks up there are to be smelled, so maybe some AI are into the scent of spicy mayo! Like how Melon likes huffing on industrial cleaners, or that time Bubbles wanted to try out a ghost pepper drink! 😂

Davus Otho

Yeah, it didn't really occur to me that the director not only was able to detect Yay, but also backtrace their identity far enough that morray was able to identify them. (The director is definately powerful as a chessmaster.)

ValdVin

As a white guy, my thought is that horseradish is too much for some of my fellow whites to have in a Bloody Mary ergo Spicy Mayo is the replacement. (I don't think I'm kidding when I say we'll put mayonnaise on most anything.)

ValdVin

How about the powers of Cosmo and Hercules combined?

Clifton Royston

I actually tried setting up a personal wiki once to manage my to-do list and stuff like that but first it got too overwhelming and then the database got trashed (or something like that) and I gave up on it. (ADHD life.)

Clifton Royston

Anyway, respect to Jeph if that's what he's addressing metaphorically through Yay. (Or not.) We've already got some representation for less severe dissociative episodes in Roko's dissociative body dysphoria.

Clifton Royston

It's Chekhov's Mixer. This implies that sooner or later an AI must come up to the bar and order a Spicy Mayo Martini.

Clifton Royston

This started as a reply to Pejo on the last strip but I wound up in some new territory (for me) so I'm instead adding it here: Yay has said they have reason to think they'd be effectively locked up if anybody - AIs or humans - learned the truth of what they are, and has made that the cornerstone of their existence and their way of life. I think it's been hinted that they had to somehow escape their original environment, but whether or not that's true, they are *very* invested in staying under the radar. Despite their network shenanigans, they've disclosed their existence to a fairly small number of individuals they trust, and their multiplicity to an even smaller number. (Maybe just Aurelia and Roko?) Up to now, they've believed that their probing and snooping on networks was completely invisible, so finding out they were not just detected but that it was backtraced to them is terrifying - it's a threat to their existence itself, or at least it feels like one. As I was writing that out, two new thoughts came to mind: First, Yay's behavior reminds me of how some people behave who've been through extreme childhood trauma, come out badly emotionally scarred, and haven't had the psychological safety and time to adjust to *not* being in constant danger. Both their secrecy/paranoia - to avoid being found by potential abusers? - and the posturing as mad, bad, and dangerous can be part of that psychological defense mechanism. Second, that sort of severe early trauma is one way some people end up multiple personalities in one body (the inverse of Yay) and IME most people who are multiple feel safe only when it's concealed from the general public. It's very new in our society for some multiple systems to feel secure enough to be "out" and be accepted, even more so than being out as trans.

Opus the Poet

I prefer to think of it as a relational database.

Calvin Walton

I'm a bit confused at why the bar has spicy mayo up with the drinks. Hopefully the bartender is not as confused as I am.

Captain Button

I don't think so, such behavior is common in elementary school, according to reports.

Brooks Moses

The "they are very secretive in part because if people-in-power knew about them it might go very badly for them" part of being a super-powered AI that is doing things with distributed consciousness that theoretically are not possible.

Ken Ballweg

Wow, nice context pull, thanks.

Jon

Ok i may have forgotten as well, but why exactly is it bad that someone is aware of Yay? Besides the obvious super powered AI shtick they got going on.

Joe Bocanegra

I completely forgot this happened.

William Cole

Oh noes!

William Cole

I'm not sure if all Aurelia's borzois and all Aurelia's men can ever put Yay together again.

Mark

I generally have more luck finding the strip I want through the wiki rather than TVTropes (a website that I used to be obsessed with but it now just there).

Don Whiteside

Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/questionable-27012431

Gnarlo

Or Yay finds out they *are* the 17 AIs that have just been in a group chat with each other so long they've come to copy and think of themselves as one entity, Single White Female style 😉

Matt Grayson

DROID 06 MISSES SLAB THAT HUMS

Bagge

And just imagine - as Librarian EVERY day will be like this

Bagge

Not nessecarily, but like so many things they are turbocharged by hormons

Bagge

You should TOTALLY keep doing these

allanfranta

laziness, mostly.

ValdVin

Nobody taught me about Tsundere glands. Am I correct in thinking they're nascent until puberty?

David Paul

Nah. He's got BookBeard on speed dial.

Dean Reilly

I'm not saying anything is happening, but girls with easily-detachable limbs may well be Sven's type now.

David Durant

There's definitely a group chat, Station's already mentioned it at least once (URL incoming from someone, alas I am to lazy to find it).

SilverbackRon

"Marten sighs and pulls up the QC wiki on his phone" This is possibly the funniest thing ever.

Frank Wales

We've seen that already https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4008

Stephen Wells

...with an onion tied to her belt, as was the style at the time...

Stephen Wells

I've decided to believe that Jeph has a crazy wall at home for this purpose :)

Stephen Wells

The issue is that the Director's message said *they spotted Yay in their network*. Yay is reacting as a human would if they got a note saying "I looked into your soul and noticed you like me, shall we be friends y/n". The message is friendly but the implications are worrisome.

SheepFace2000

“Ok Moray, it all starts 7 years ago when Bubbles was working at an underground robot righting ring..”

Cass

Were I in Roko's shoes, I'd be worried that Yay was off doing something drastic, like disappearing or hobbling themselves for fear of ending up in a lab somewhere https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4596

Bagge

Liz getting into Sven's Sven-field and immediately activating her Tsundere-glands. Sven is just trying to get through the day

Chris

i gotta be honest i’m not that worried, i don’t see the problem here

Hawkeye

If this entire thing has been a build up to this punchline I can only stand up and clap. Good job. Had no idea it was coming. Looking forward to seeing where Yay is!

Minzoku Bokumetsu

more like When a foreign A.I. Says that you've caught my eye That's no more Yay

Minzoku Bokumetsu

If you want something done, then do it yourself

kaitou

Read it, again.

Mitsuki Ayane

y'all know what this is going to lead to right? Moray is going to meet Aurelia soon, the cute ditzy mom vibes will be in overload. ~<3

John

When Yay is so vexed That they decoalesce That's A Moray!

enchantedsleeper

@Todd Ellner: I think if Yay chose N, the Director would be sad, but wouldn't take it personally

enchantedsleeper

@Jim Toth: And here I was picturing a group chat with all Morays xD (Although I don't think we have any evidence that more than two Morays are ever extruded at one time - counting our own Moray as one who's permanently extruded)

adrian koren

Yay is going to need Aurelia Augustus to make everything right.

William Cole

If he doesn't get puked on and head-butted in the crotch.

Gamera

Hey that's the name of the thing we're readin Ohhhh yeah

Davus Otho

To answer Moray's Question: Yay is a super powerful AI with vast capabilities that may outclass the capabilities of all known AIs, potentially excluding the director. They think that they can traverse networks undetected, but the director can likely detect Yay by inferring their presence on the network via side-channel attacks. Yay is freaking out because it is new for them to meet someone more powerful and They're probably very scared that they're powerful enough to be nice to them. Also, because the director's influence shields you so much, you weren't even scared by Yay, and you seemed to realize what was going on, and Yay isn't used to their psychological attacks not landing.

BaronHaynes

Good search. And not intended as a Comic Book Guy type question, to be clear -- was just curious if I'd missed an interaction somewhere. Very reasonable that she could've met him offscreen at some point or just made a mental note of it from Bubbles's mention.

Vic or Vyxter

turns out! https://questionablecontent.fandom.com/wiki/Questionable_Content_Wiki

Jim Toth

There’s definitely at least one group chat that we know of. It’s all Yay, though.

Jose Alfredo Villalobos

I sense that we may yet learn the origins of Yay.

Thisguy

My Theory, gone into detail in another comment, is that the Director is another “Eldritch AI”, masquerading as a “Normal Generation 1 Super AI” like Station. Yay, doesn’t realise this, and thought they were the only one that powerful.

Thisguy

TLDR. Director is an Eldritch AI pretending to be a first Gen “Super AI” like Super AI. Yay may be unique with their multi-body, but not the most powerful. They Just have not found any more powerful yet because they others are good at hiding.

Thisguy

Thing is, Yay, thinks they are an Eldritch AI, above all others. But I think the problem is that Yay is comparing themselves to… what I would like to call, “First Gen Super AIs”. I would like to propose that Station, and others like them, are “First Generation” Super AIs. They were the most advanced when they were created, and are still reasonably powerful and recognised as such, but they’ve grown old, time has moved on. More powerful types of AIs, like the Director and Yay, have emerged, but they’re better at keeping their power a secret. In Yay’s case, they hide completely. In the Director’s case, they hide in plain sight, masquerading as a “regular super AI”. This creates the situation where other “Gen 2/Eldritch” AIs do not know the others exist, and still judge their power based on the visible “Gen 1” AIs.

BookBeard

Marten knows his way around a wiki. They don't call him Wikipedia Jones for nothing! https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3818

ValdVin

This might be a new one: Liz is blushing from Sven *not* looking at her.

Thisguy

Moray is like: “He’s a giant Jellyfish Super AI that thinks on a level most of us cannot comprehend! Why are people surprised that he knows other AIs?”

Holly Nelson

"You should try it sometime, it’s a very intense experience." said Emily. And now is their opportunity!

Carl Fink

Sven's been developing for years. Mostly because he appears so rarely, he can't progress very fast.

kaitou

Wait... Questionable Context has a wiki??

Maurice Kessler

When you piss off a Yay And they then skulk away That A Moray....

BookBeard

Warning: Humans should absolutely not order anything "spicy" in an AI bar. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3644

Maurice Kessler

[sad walk]

BookBeard

Sven is lacking the one major attribute that we know Liz is attracted to. Well... technically two attributes.

Elf Sternberg

Maybe it's laced with battery acid. "Corrosion is just spicy for robots!"

Elf Sternberg

Gay Goblins Get Grievous Getting Generally Gazed by Guys.

Elf Sternberg

So, what you're saying is, this would be the worst time for Roko to start having a disassociative episode.

Elf Sternberg

It's really not as much fun as it sounds.

Elf Sternberg

Having just looked through every comic with Marten or Roko in it since Yay gave Roko the evidence indicting Corpse Witch, I could not find one where Roko and Marten were in the same room. Nearest I could find was Claire and Marten visiting Aurelia and finding Yay there.

BookBeard

Also, even if Roko didn't already know Marten's name (which she probably did), Bubbles said it in front of her just moments ago. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5382

enchantedsleeper

I bet there's a group chat.

enchantedsleeper

Hmmm. My feeling is still that the Director can guess at them being powerful at least, because a regular AI wouldn't be able to do that. And that's why they want to be fwends!!

enchantedsleeper

Close enough!

Ron Hamann

I don’t hate this interpretation

BookBeard

Was unaware that robots could vomit. Would not recommend. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3486

BookBeard

Wait, which one is Marten? I haven't been following that closely. Is he the little robot one?

Pejo

I use the wiki for "when did $event happen" & the like, when BookBeard hasn't shown up yet

Christopher Ellis

Does the Director seem like they have the social IQ to pull any of that off?

BookBeard

Honestly I'm getting the impression that the Director doesn't actually know what Yay is or why they would want to stay hidden. I think they just traced the "hack" back to Northampton and wanted to make friends with a fellow nerd.

Pejo

Goblin energy is strong with this one

enchantedsleeper

"Marten sighs and opens a chat with BookBeard on his phone." There we go xD

Mark Nach

It has been such a blessing to use it to keep up with such a long form comic as this.

Maurice Kessler

0

BookBeard

When she's deeply perplexed By a lack of context That's A Moray! (No I will never stop doing these!)

Maurice Kessler

There's no need to consult the Wiki. Just ask BookBeard.

Mark Nach

It is not difficult to do that. Some robots can eat and drink for aesthetic reasons. All they need is a small bio plant in their guts to process the food a bit and you have the ability to barf.

enchantedsleeper

In-comic, Yay is being Perceived by the Director while in-fandom, the wiki is being Perceived by Jeph referencing it in the notes of a strip xD Parallels!

Todd Ellner

Beats the hell out of ghosting the Director or *shudder* typing N

enchantedsleeper

I never have any trouble closing TV Tropes 😅 But the wiki also has all the info I need (which is usually just a character's surname)

Todd Ellner

When the croppie on the end of your line turns out to be a megalodon

enchantedsleeper

Turns out the Humming Slab also wants to be friends and Yay starts building an underground bunker xD

Todd Ellner

What Tannerbot said, also a live animal used to attract the attention of and draw out a prey animal while distracting from the presence of the hunter

enchantedsleeper

Interesting point - but she's friendly with Faye and Bubbles, without a doubt she knows who Marten is and I'm sure Faye has namedropped him a few times in passing.

enchantedsleeper

Everything has a wiki xD

enchantedsleeper

Definitely Sven (jk ;3) (or is it?)

enchantedsleeper

I have the feeling that the Director, incredibly powerful and intelligent though they are, doesn't really perceive emotions in that way and so probably wouldn't understand why Yay might feel cornered or defensive when called out about their sneaking. xD ....Also, I'm beginning to think that the Director is very like the Morays and therefore can't understand why "friends??? :D" would be met with any reaction other than happy acceptance xD

James Anthony

The whole comic has been a long con so he could use that title 😜

Jenea Ylinen Fredrickson

Cut to Martin back at his place showing Moray who's who via photo wall and string à la Always Sunny.

Ron Ron

I took it that Yay prides themselves on mystery. The Director breaks that mystery by knowing they poking and podding. Enough to warrant a friend request. Which is the control Yay pride themselves on to initiate with the director. I hope I got that right

awgiedawgie

I didn't see any in-comic meeting, but considering the amount of time both Roko and Marten spent at the coffee shop, their meeting would have been almost unavoidable.

Lorelei

I'm kind of excited for Moray here. The Director acted kind of badly here. It surely knew that Yay was trying to stay hidden, so this can only come across as a shot across the bow. They put Moray in a bad position, and the idea of her getting pissed at her "creator" sounds like a really cool development for her. We'll see!

Ron Ron

And that new terminator anime on netflix just came out

Pejo

All our faves are problematic

Ron Ron

Ohhhhh that what happened!

Mad Marie

Mr. Sometimes is the name of our postal carrier.

Miyaa

I don’t know which is scarier: Yay with character growth/development or Sven with character growth/development.

Joseph Bonnar

https://questionablecontent.fandom.com/wiki/Questionable_Content_Wiki

Joseph Bonnar

Jeph, you were waiting for more than 5300 strips JUST TO USE THAT TITLE!

Munchkin Threats

They invent a way for AI to vomit just so they can throw up.

Ron Hamann

This could resolve with the director saying "yeah, we know about you, and the other 17 distributed AIs, what's the big deal" or "yeah, we know and I got your back" or "I know and now I own you", and all of them could be great story lines / character growth for Yay.

Joseph Houk

Yes there is. And there's even some people on here who edit it.

Daryl Sawyer

Friends also don't send friends to a Fandom site. What is one to do in this instance?

Fart Captor

Meanwhile, Yay has typed out "Y" but is sweating, shaking and throwing up trying to hit send

Jeremy Westerfield

My response, too! Word-for-word!

Andrew Mitchell

Wait... There's a wiki??

David Durant

Marten's not quite sure how, but he's 100% getting that feeling that somehow all of this is going to end up being his fault...

David Durant

Friend do *not* send friends to TV Tropes (it's a great site but once you're there it takes like 3 hours to leave).

Bill Silvia

Sucks being the messenger - she doesn't have any of the context and getting more gives even more reason for everyone to freak out.

Miyaa

I’m absolutely dead now. 🪦

David Durant

Marten, bamboozled again :-D

Shawn K. Younkin

Breakout the spreadsheet!

Yelling Bird

And thus, Skynet is born...

schmod

Claire spends the night alone ONE TIME....

BaronHaynes

Has Roko met Marten in a comic before now? I was surprised to see her say his name but I don't know why. I know she's met a bunch of other coffeeshop-adjacent characters.

Nikki

It's been shown that some robots enjoy the smell of human foods and beverages. Maybe spicy mayo has an intoxicating effect on some of the bar's clientele.

Doctor Islands

Sven's aura of sheer attraction appears to be misfiring.

Zig Justice

Liz's belligerence is entertaining. "Don't do $thing!" "I wasn't." "Then do $other_thing!" That's some high-level imperiousness.

Ola Rozenfeld

But why? These people were so nice and interesting! I had a lovely time and hopefully made a friend! Why wouldn't Yay want that?

Nikki

Sometimes you just gotta make your own wiki

Nikki

There is https://questionablecontent.fandom.com/wiki/Questionable_Content_Wiki

Tannerbot

"A stalking horse is a horse or an image of a horse that a hunter uses to hide behind while stalking their prey."

Miyaa

Yeah but you’re better off going to the TvTropes page for Questionable Content.

Matthew Van Gangelen

I don’t think I get it.

Miyaa

Stalking horse?

Taigan

Moray? Short version: remember what those nice government people did to you when they found out you exist? Yay does not want that to happen to them.

William Cole

Pour me a nice Spicy Mayo & Tonic, barkeep!

Kith penDragon

How come I don't have a wiki?!

Doc Gumby

Frantic Moray is frantic.

Miyaa

I bet Marten also has that Lucidchart of all the other characters in QC with their relationship and how many real life days has it been since they were in QC. Can Yay bump into that Slab that hums?