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She realizes she made a mistake and apologizes.

1 (1.9%)

She buries her head under the covers until Momo forces her to apologize.

18 (34.6%)

She runs off and joins Hanners on her quest for self-fulfillment.

2 (3.8%)

She stubbornly refuses to acknowledge she screwed up, shoe-leather-aftertaste be damned!

15 (28.8%)

Purple Monkey Dishwashers.

7 (13.5%)

Spathe Ham.

4 (7.7%)

Something else.

5 (9.6%)

Total Members Voted: 47

[Neko_Ali]

It's not often I say this, but May is right on the money in this one. Not the one I would have thought to be the person with good advice on life and relationship. Also, fuck.

[brasca]

Flower girl no, but pall bearer would be suitable. 

I am curious about how an AI that aspires to be a fighter drone and has some of the worst social interaction skills could be so astute about human relationships. 

[hedgie]

Observation most likely.

[Case]

I am curious about how an AI that aspires to be a fighter drone and has some of the worst social interaction skills could be so astute about human relationships.

I guess that having had a full facial replacement recently does make one wonder about stuff like body-image issues ... especially people who'd much rather forgo the whole f-wording body stuff altogether and be a mother-f-wording fighter jet.

[MrNumbers]

May is absolutely crushing it in today's strip. She swears because she cares, and she immediately cuts the blame-allocation and self-recrimination spiral. Doesn't matter whose fault it is, just fix this damn mess. I wonder if Momo is having a similar conversation with Marigold right now?

[BenRG]

It's an interesting monologue on the part of May today. I'm sure that some might feel offended by the implied stereotyping about female obsession with appearances. However, I do think May is right to believe that Dale needs to have it explained to him pretty explicitly to get it at all. In some ways, Dale is here being written as the stereotypical male with no emotional depth whatsoever, thinking that everything can be handled with an intellectual and abstract discussion of the facts. Sorry, friend; from experience I can tell you that never works and is, in fact counter-productive.

Meanwhile, I can't help but imagine May (in a VTOL fighter jet chassis) attempting to play the role of flower girl. In a bizarre way, it actually works.

[WoaLG]

I'm with Dale here. I wouldn't let May within 1000 feet of any wedding.

[Zebediah]

May just summarized twenty thousand words of forum discussion in four panels. I’m in awe.

[Nepiophage]

Meanwhile, I can't help but imagine May (in a VTOL fighter jet chassis) attempting to play the role of flower girl. In a bizarre way, it actually works.

She could fly low over the wedding just after the vows and drop several sackfuls of rose petals.

[Cornelius]

Would you really trust her with that?

[Tova]

Let's keep the temperature somewhere below furnace level, shall we?

[Akima]

May reading the Jet Fighter mag made me chuckle.

I imagine May rolling out to the opening theme from Top Gun looking like a Valkyrie from Macross..
"High-way to the Maynger zone"
And the Valkyrie is a variable-fighter so she could land for the wedding.

May is absolutely crushing it in today's strip. She swears because she cares, and she immediately cuts the blame-allocation and self-recrimination spiral. Doesn't matter whose fault it is, just fix this damn mess.

Just so. I think Jeph crushed it too, with unexpectedly good advice from an unexpected source.

[Zebediah]

Meanwhile, I can't help but imagine May (in a VTOL fighter jet chassis) attempting to play the role of flower girl. In a bizarre way, it actually works.

She could fly low over the wedding just after the vows and drop several sackfuls of rose petals.

Yeah, that’s the ticket. Fly low over the wedding venue in a fighter jet, blasting the entire wedding party with jet exhaust.

And that’s assuming May doesn’t get carried away and kick in the afterburners.

[Thrillho]

Tova, at the risk of sounding Banneresque, You do NOT want me to post about such things when I am angry...
And yes, I am... quite!

You may have missed the post I made regarding "Jeemy" and how I feel he was hounded off the board by people asking more and more for his explanation into something which had personally affected him. What you are saying above is similar to that.

I have mentioned more than once (fleetingly) the devastating effects 'jealousy' has played in my life.
To have that experience called a) lies and b) ridiculous is WAY more insulting than you might care to believe.

So, are you saying, therefore, that I need to lay out chapter and verse precisely WHY I believe that Jealousy is not a "just get over it!" topic?
I need to explain it all in full, graphic and heart-breaking detail? Rather than just allude to my experience...?

Or is that what is required to not be called a liar?
Or to not have ones experience of such a thing be labelled as "ridiculous"...?

(I also suggested this topic be moved to another sub-forum.. that didn't happen either...)

Moderators do have lives too. When somebody gets the time to, these posts will be siphoned off into a thread of their own or the relationship thread (I think they could do with their own post). I don't currently have the time to do it and will aim to do so this evening if nobody else has.

Moderator Comment

In the meantime, this subsection of the discussion has ceased to be productive and it is isn't directly relevant to the comic any more, so let's go back to just discussing the comic, folks.

[Thrillho]

Moderator Comment

The jealousy discussion is now in its own thread. Apologies for the slightly messy split, there was a lot of overlap.

[swapna]

I like May! "You're both idiots" is the best summary of the last few strips. Okay, second-best because "you're both fucking idiots" would've upped the curse quota.
It's big of her, too, since Marigold tried to stop Dale from having her as a roommate, because of, again, her jealousy. May immediately read the situation correctly  there, too, come to think of it.

[tut21]

Why am I supposed to care about Dale and Margiold again? He's immature and she's worse. Next subplot, please.

[TheEvilDog]

Because of character growth.

Yes, they're both acting like idiots, but through this they should learn how to act like adults.

[Thrillho]

Why am I supposed to care about Dale and Margiold again? He's immature and she's worse. Next subplot, please.

Would you rather they be well-advised? What story points arise from a happy relationship?

[MrNumbers]

Why am I supposed to care about Dale and Margiold again? He's immature and she's worse. Next subplot, please.

Would you rather they be well-advised? What story points arise from a happy relationship?

To play Devil's Advocate; Anything involving mutually incompatible objectives or values. Issues where, even though something is perfectly communicated and understood by both parties, is still a cause for disagreement. Or personal vulnerabilities that are only an issue because the love of their partner forces them to come further out of their shell and develop as a person.

Moving in together when one partner needs to resolve losing the feeling of independence, but do so because the feeling of closeness outweighs it. Gift shopping. Hearing a mutual friend badmouth/gossip about the partner behind their back and being unsure of whether to tell the partner, which would make them unhappy for knowing, or keep the secret, so as not to harm the friendship and to not put the stress on that partner's shoulders.

House hunting. Developing a skillset together but one partner learns quicker than the other. Getting a pet. Working up the courage to propose, and figuring out the best way to do that. Working up the courage to admit to having a kink you've never admitted to before because you want to try it but are really embarrassed.

One partner is working on a really stressful long-term project and the other is helping them work through it, and they're only capable of working through it because they have that relationship to support them through it.

Secretly learning poetry to surprise the other partner with, and doing everything possible to hide that embarassing secret until they're good enough that it's no longer embarassing.


EDIT: CAN YOU TELL I WAS WORKING THROUGH WRITERS' BLOCK RIGHT NOW?

[WoaLG]

Why am I supposed to care about Dale and Margiold again? He's immature and she's worse. Next subplot, please.

Most of the characters in QC have pretty severe issues in one way or another. I'm not sure what subplot you're hoping for, but I'm not sure the next one will be anymore to your taste.

[ckridge]

Why am I supposed to care about Dale and Margiold again? He's immature and she's worse. Next subplot, please.

Because QC is a comedy of manners, and the function of a comedy of manners is not to supply you with imaginary friends, but instead to display, question, and mock contemporary social customs and the problems arising from them.

Well, a comic of manners. And the mockery is gentle. Unless May is doing it.

[shanejayell]

May reading the Jet Fighter mag made me chuckle.

One would think they'd download it tho.... 

And forego the chance of being "surprised" enjoying Jet Fighter pron?

That's like Pintsize not tweeting about ... the stuff he downloads

(Yes, he actually has a real Twitter-account. Yes, you could check. Yes, you should definitely meditate on the phrase "what has been seen cannot be unseen" before you do.)

Yeah, no.

LOVE May's advice this time. She really IS better with people than she'd admit.

[Netherdan]

You know Dale is being serious when he turns off the anime filter on his AR glasses.

PS: come to think of it, Marigold's imagination might not be that far from reality, you just need to replace the sexy Emily with a super cute anime Emily

[ckridge]

No, really, how does May know this? Someone upthread says by observation, but observation requires interest, and May is the last person one would expect to be interested in anyone else. She is a snotty little punk, albeit a charming snotty little punk, and that is usually a mark of someone self-centered. Self-centered people are, almost by definition, little interested in others, and therefore usually little observant of others.

Possibilities:

1. May is actually much older than she looks, and has acquired knowledge of humans just by being around a long time. This is unlikely, but I like the image of someone very old inside that little doll body.

2. May is less self-centered than she seems, and Jeph has already laid down hints of this that I have missed or forgotten.

3. Jeph is using May as a mouthpiece to explain what he thinks is so, speaking through her without regard to her character.

4. Jeph will now develop May's character and show how she can be so sharply observant.

5. AI's outsider status requires them to observe humans carefully in order to fit in at all, even when they are personally self-centered.

[Oenone]

I mean, she’s also in group therapy. She could be bringing in some of the discussions she’s had there.

[gopher]

I'm hoping we soon get a mirror of this conversation with Marigold and Momo. Would setup an exam question too. "Compare and contrast..."

[Is it cold in here?]

May has been something-related-to-advising on this relationship even before it started. It is possible she feels like she owes Dale something and is trying to pay it back.

How does she know what advice to give? She might have a social protocol database too. She may have spent her time in Robot Jail "reading" and gotten started on books about human relationships.

Those books exist because some things can be taught. Active listening, random acts of kindness, the five to one ratio -- all teachable skills. We teach kids what to do in a fire. Being in a relationship is more likely.

For heaven's sake, I would have been incomparably better off if someone had explained during my dating years that the overwhelming majority of rejections had nothing to do with me and did not constitute a pattern.

Hmm. I'm about to trigger a split into RELATE, aren't I?

[JoeCovenant]

You know Dale is being serious when he turns off the anime filter on his AR glasses.

PS: come to think of it, Marigold's imagination might not be that far from reality, you just need to replace the sexy Emily with a super cute anime Emily

This is one of the things that pointed me to wondering if Marigold isn't actually correct in her assumptions.

He didn't have the VR on when he was talking to Emily (Thus, he was giving her his full attention)
And he turned it on when Marigold came in to CoD...

And every now and again, Jeph shocks us with his devilish subtlety...

Not saying this is what was intended... but it's what I read from it.

[Cornelius]

On the other hand, Emily does tend have some ... interesting effects on technology from time to time. Perhaps it's just safer to turn the glasses off.

[Oenone]

On the other hand, Emily does tend have some ... interesting effects on technology from time to time. Perhaps it's just safer to turn the glasses off.

Plus, he’s working behind the counter of a place with burning hot things that sometimes explode. I’d probably want to pay close attention to my surroundings then too.

Also tbh I kinda assumed when he has his anime glasses and is looking at Marigold, he’s recording her so he can like, save all the memories of his first love...

Of course now that sounds less cute and more creepy

[Oenone]

May has been something-related-to-advising on this relationship even before it started. It is possible she feels like she owes Dale something and is trying to pay it back.

How does she know what advice to give? She might have a social protocol database too. She may have spent her time in Robot Jail "reading" and gotten started on books about human relationships.

Those books exist because some things can be taught. Active listening, random acts of kindness, the five to one ratio -- all teachable skills. We teach kids what to do in a fire. Being in a relationship is more likely.

For heaven's sake, I would have been incomparably better off if someone had explained during my dating years that the overwhelming majority of rejections had nothing to do with me and did not constitute a pattern.

Hmm. I'm about to trigger a split into RELATE, aren't I?

Is there a Relate thread on best self help books?

[ckridge]

Is there a Relate thread on best self help books?

I think novels are probably the best relationship self-help books. Some show how to do it all wrong (Dangerous Liasons, The Captive), some show how to do it right (Gilead), and some show that it gets really hard even when you do it right (Cheri). Most important, they show how looking closely at particular human characters is interesting, and looking closely at particular human characters is probably the single most useful social skill.

This comic is a kind of self-help book, too. It keeps your mind working on what to do in tricky social situations.

Problem is, as I know to my sorrow, if you are kind of a dick but have good social skills, you are kind of a dick. Fixing that takes some other kind of self-help.

[Thrudd]

Who'd like to see May become a 'plane, maybe something like a Quinjet from the MCU, and still try to keep up with her friends?

Make sure she at least has a GIR-walk mode so she isn't stuck in a hangar or on a tarmac when she isn't flying.

How about a micro-quad copter?
Her rap sheet would preclude doing deliveries for amazon but then again they have a penchant for delivering things to people who have never ordered anything from them.
I do not.... I Repeat most strongly .... do not recommend a drone swarm.

[JRDelirio]

May is actually much older than she looks, and has acquired knowledge of humans just by being around a long time. This is unlikely, but I like the image of someone very old inside that little doll body.

Well, visual clues about age would not necessarily be a reliable indicator of maturity for an AI, especially one embodied in a "welfare" cheap refurb chassis issued off-the-rack, so to speak, when she was released from robotjail.   

Also even among us humans, there is the phenomenon of different "intelligences" and even different levels within each class.  May suffers from shortfalls in the impulse control area but she may be perfectly well aware of interpersonal relationship standards.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

That Jeph has chosen May to give relationship advice is supposed to show the depths of Dale's cluelessness, I think. ( at least it wasn't Pintsize... )

[Tova]

Well. Inability to see your own issues is a recurring theme in QC.

Hasn't Pintsize given good advice some time in the past?

[shanejayell]

Updated!
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3684

Yes, I'd pick a Gundam too, honestly....

[TheEvilDog]

Updated!
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3684

Yes, I'd pick a Gundam too, honestly....

You know, you could just say “comics up”, we already know the basic url for the comic...


And I think everyone would pick the pilotable mech over a partner.

Except me. I’d go for the Kaiju option.

[Penquin47]

That Jeph has chosen May to give relationship advice is supposed to show the depths of Dale's cluelessness, I think. ( at least it wasn't Pintsize... )

We haven't seen it in a while, but Pintsize has been known to give some great relationship/dating/life advice.  I'm specifically thinking of when Marten went to the party with Tai as a step to moving on from Dora, but I'm sure there have been other times.

[zisraelsen]

The most valuable type of friend, it seems, is the one that can call you on your bullshit as deftly as May and Momo have these last few strips.

[yaksaregreat]

Marigold is being hypocritical and self centered, yet again. She's insecure and constantly seeks validation, but does not accept that validation when she receives it? Sure Dale was an idiot but Marigold is being unfair. Can we get Faye and Bubbles back soon?

[Neko_Ali]

The thing that allows May to give good advice is the same thing that lets all us readers realize why and just how bad Marigold and Dale are screwing up. We're outside the conflict. There's no secret mysterious gift at work here. The issue isn't even that complicated. It's one person being insecure and another being clueless about it.

[stixanstones]

Has Marigold always had that severe of an overbite, or is it a new-ish artistic license to create "cuter" MarMar?

Also surprise surprise... she's still in the "woe is me" area of the self-inflicted fight.  Hopefully Momo can lay down some knowledge and have it stick as fast as May did.

[zodo]

Most weddings would be better without May.

True, June is far more popular. 

[Shjade]

And I think everyone would pick the pilotable mech over a partner.

I don't even like to drive. I'd pass on the Gundam and keep the partner 100% of the time.

[St.Clair]

And I think everyone would pick the pilotable mech over a partner.

I don't even like to drive. I'd pass on the Gundam and keep the partner 100% of the time.

Damn right.  A Gundam is an 18 meter tall, 60 ton white elephant.  (And blue, and red, and gold.)  Like any combat vehicle, it requires an enormous amount of fuel, maintenance, etc etc for every minute of actual operation.  Even when it's inactive, it takes up space.  And it is a gigantic trouble magnet.

[Eternal_Newbie]

And your choice of boyfriends is limited to creepy losers with mother issues (or am I thinking of the wrong series).

[St.Clair]

Well, in some series they're all gay for each other...

[BenRG]

I think that May hit the nail on the head a couple of strips back when she pointed out that Dale and Marigold are both very poor at communication. That aside, how very, very human it is for both of them to react first (hurting each other in the process) and think about it later!

One question that genuinely can be raised is the real depth of Dale and Marigold's relationship. I already have pointed out that they feel like a pair of teenagers on their first relationship sometimes. I'm wondering if this arc will have long-term consequences for them both in terms of their confidence in their feelings for each other (including their own investment into the relationship) is shaken.