Lunch Break

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.

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.

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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

Is that City Face over there? :))

Meat Bla is my favorive Bla

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).

First death poop is cannon then?

🤣😂

Don't you ruin spicy death pidgeons!

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!

MAY SHOULD APOLOGIZE

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

early comic?

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

His name... is Chili Face.

I bet pintsize would love to help out

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