Lunch Break

Or maybe an origin story of yelling bird?? 😲

Julienne Ignace

peppers evolved so that people and other mammals would not like eating them because they were poor choices for distributing the seeds (we break down the seeds by chewing them, we don't range far enough, etc.) while birds enjoy the taste and are excellent distributors.

Freya Thurell

Now that you mention this, I remember seeing "squirrel proof" bird seed that was coated with some kind of hot pepper extract.

Jason Rock

Fun fact, birds cannot taste spiciness, which is why so many types of wild peppers depend on birds eating them and pooping the seeds elsewhere to populate.

A sheep

How ... unfortunate. That crap put me right off Gunnerkrigg.

Jumpy James Johnson Junior

Great strip, Jeph, as usual! Spicy Habanero Pigeons of Doom sounds like a bitchin' band name! ;)

Chris Hewson

I have to wonder what's on that sign in panel 2. It's a bit hard to read, and cuts off after the J. So I'm going to assume it says "100% organic squid juice" until proven otherwise.

Peter Jensen

The only kind of support we've seen is the <a href="http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2955" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">court-mandated weekly robot support group</a>. I highly doubt she's getting professional support outside that.

Peter Jensen

Gawd do I love the discussions May triggers! Rather than react to each thing May says and does, I'm trying to find an enclosing scope where she "makes sense" being who she is, as she is. I think I've gathered some clues about it. First, May is broken. Her "goal seeking" overwhelmed her "restraints". There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a Jet Fighter! So the goal itself wasn't bad. She simply chose a bad path to the goal. Certainly not the worst path: She could have instead tried to steal a Jet Fighter body, rather than the less violent path of stealing the money to buy one. So, not all of May's "restraints" were obliterated. (Note: We don't see May playing jet fighter sims all the time. Did she ever play them? Did she ever try to rent a jet aircraft body for a day? Makes me wonder if getting a Jet Fighter body was simply her excuse to yield to her impulse to steal money.) Second, May knows she's broken. It didn't take Robot Jail for her to learn that. If anything, Robot Jail simply served to prevent her from overriding other restraints while learning new behaviors and skills (sometimes including a holographic maid outfit). Third, May proved she's not "completely" broken, that she has two of the most vital traits for an AI in society to have: She bonded with Dale and was honest with him. Dale also bonded with her, and agreed to be a supporter. I choose to believe this mutual relationship was the real key to her release. Fourth, nobody goes from broken to "fixed" without intermediate steps. Lots and lots of them. It is important to realize it is not always obvious which steps represent progress and which do not. Many fall into the muddy middle. May spends lots of her time in the middle. Spicy pigeons, indeed. Just how different is May compared to the other QC characters, especially the AIs? Even Pintsize is better adjusted and healthier than May. Bubbles too, even when she was in her most damaged state. I believe the only AI we've seen worse than May was Corpse Witch. But even CW had control, and could project "normality" when she needed to. Not May. She's still at the mercy of her impulses, and has to continually restrain them, fortunately with more success than failure. But still only one big failure away from Robot Jail. She'd rather be left alone most of the time, if only to avoid acting on spiteful, envious impulses that would hurt those who care about her. But they keep coming up to her, and she sometimes says things (even totally correct things) in the worst way possible. Why isn't May seeing a shrink? Or has she been receiving professional support behind the scenes?

BobC

It's interesting watching Winslow learn to navigate the real world. I think it's important to remember that until recently his body was basically an anthropomorphic iPod, and his 'world' (internet access aside) was mostly limited to Hannelore's apartment.

Ehren Kluge

I am interested to know whether pigeons really have something against habanero and all. Conventional wisdom is that capseine is a poison to mammals, but inoffensive to bird, hence it's used by peppers to attract their "client" (birds, who will shit out the seed everywhere) and make other animals avoid them. But for some reason, I put more stocks on Jeph Jacque wisdom than on conventional wisdom.

Frederick Ohlmann

I want to start a band called Spicy Death Pigeons now. I'm recruiting members, no musical ability required.

Celine Chamberlin

...suddenly I want to hear the rest of the "Saga of Meat Bla".

Brian English

Best day for it! The worst thing about patreon is that I don't get mon-fri comics

Tiff Leek

People being shat on is funny. Poisoning animals in order to make that happen is not. But people being shat on is definitely funny.

Gary Walker

Is that City Face over there? :))

Burcu Yücesoy

Meat Bla is my favorive Bla

Olivia Waters

Sure. Even just like "I shouldn't have snapped at you." But she probably won't, because that's not how her character is. Winslow is not on nice_list.txt.

Richard

I remember a video of kids putting out Pringles covered in laxatives for the seagulls at a beach.. This... adds layers to that prank. Here; imagine this plus Habanero to make it burn where it hits skin... -- <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suYz5SHFHyA" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suYz5SHFHyA</a>

I think the spicy death pigeons may be the only thing that could stop Pintsize if someone gave him espresso. (I can't find the comic reference, sorry).

Hugh Eckert

First death poop is cannon then?

Matt

Birds also don't have the mammary glands that "other" mammals have, instead laying large eggs and then stuffing torn-up mealworms down the babies' throats.

Jumpy James Johnson Junior

I'm pretty sure this also means that it'll pass right through their digestive systems, so not necessarily ruined.

Gary Walker

🤣😂

Matt

Don't you ruin spicy death pidgeons!

Matt

The active ingredient in chili peppers, capsaicin, is not an irritant for birds. That's because birds don't have the protein TrpV1, also called the capsaicin receptor, that other mammals have which serves in the detection of temperature. And that's the reason why the seeds of chili peppers plants are dispersed predominantly by birds: they don't feel the heat.

QC is no different from what it's ever been. You don't like the comic, you don't have to pay to support it. I love that Jeph can make jokes about AI robot privilege!

Ralph

MAY SHOULD APOLOGIZE

Unanimous D

I dunno. Can he call Winslow a cuck? I feel like that would be appropriate somehow.

Gary Walker

BTW, ignoring or denying means you're a douche pistol. #highroad

Gary Walker

I'm gonna take the high road here. Privilege isn't about blame. It's about recognizing that the default bias in society isn't the equitable condition we pretty much all agree it should be. Once you see that, you are responsible for how you respond to it. Ignore, deny, or confront it as you wish, but own your decisions.

Gary Walker

Maybe you could mansplain to her that her life decisions and current situation should make her put all feelings and reactions she might have away. That the proper response is to keep her eyes down and agree and be a "productive lady AI". Then stress the importance of ethics in video game journalism.

Matt

So... you have a problem with May having character flaws?

Richard

I am fine with half the cast being gay or bi or tans but this "privilege" sotryline can go fuck itself. May is poor because she made a very long series of bad decisions. NOT because of any flavor of "privilege" and her blaming anyone else for her life problems or getting mad at them for not having those self inflicted problems is Absolute Crap.

James

True. I remember reading that once.

David Paul

She needs to work on her pitch - wrap it up as 'instant pigeon hotwings' and she'll get all the backing she needs for doomsday plotting.

Andrew

Spicy pigeon army? May's ideas might not be all there, but I feel this one has merit. Where can I invest?

Samantha Yeaman

The best part is capsaicin doesn't work on birds, so they probably can't tell that the nachos are meant to be spicy!

Kalia Grey

Feeding pigeons habanero nachos? You bringing back Yelling Bird?

Pintsize probably gave her the idea.

oh hahah I guess patreon folks get monday's comic...ON FRIDAY

Jeph Jacques

Was... Was this supposed to come up today?

Patrick Liston

early comic?

David W

I can see it melting the paint clean off...

John M Davis

May plays a long game :)

Andrew

This birds' poop will just RUIN someone's car.

Andrew

His name... is Chili Face.

Kristian

I bet pintsize would love to help out

Kyle Major

If it were anyone else saying that I'd take it as a joke. With May, though, I believe every word.

Celine Chamberlin