Post "They're A Serif Sort Of Person" by "jephjacques" from patreon

Mooster

If so, quick! Somebody start checking all the trees in the area!!!!!

CassieWasRight

They're choosing the bad ending they speculated about in this one https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4596

Sleepy John

I’m leaving it up to remind me to think.

enchantedsleeper

I was re-reading the strips where Yay meets Marten and Claire and they actually mention that Bubbles' case was what brought them to Northampton. I wonder where they were before then and whether they started renting the apartment then (or whether that's located elsewhere and they had it before).

enchantedsleeper

*scribbles notes*

enchantedsleeper

Yeah, it may not be nearby but I'm sure it's not that far either. Especially because we've seen multiple Yay bodies all sharing the space, meaning that it's a hub for them physically. (I'm also not sure how well dogs would fare in space).

enchantedsleeper

QC fan meetup when (I'm kidding, well it would be great but I doubt I'd be able to attend one geographically xD)

SilverbackRon

If somebody does a fanfic about this, please let me know. hahaha

SilverbackRon

The Saddest Face!

Clifton Royston

You could be! I feel like most of the regulars here would make good friends.

legobil

Thank you!

Bridgette Ryan

Honestly, I am kind of sad that Jeph didn't do that now... as much as it would have annoyed me, it would have also been very funny. Maybe that will be friday's comic.

Minzoku Bokumetsu

they

enchantedsleeper

Now THAT would be a twist. But I don't think we're going to see any more of Raven given that Emily has very similar energy. What if Emily could find Yay (we also haven't seen Emily in ages)?

enchantedsleeper

Also, they are xD

Shey

👀👀 same

ValdVin

Aye sweah to goahd Jeph! https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3695

BookBeard

I know right, I would be thrilled too! I mean, what kind of cereal? What kind of bowl? You can't just leave us with these sorts of serious questions hanging over our heads!

Bridgette Ryan

I swear, Jeph, if you cut to Steve eating cereal....

ValdVin

We are on the edge of our seats. What creator doesn't want that?

Not that Patrick Foltz

Am I your friend?

Not that Patrick Foltz

We've seen it several times already

Chelsea

Oh :(

Peter Jensen

Going to be a bit, still being Trash Heroes. Which I also really need to catch back up with.

James Roy

Oh no yay!

Alias Fakename

I see I'm not the only one.

Sleepy John

I can see reacting very badly to having one’s concealment and defense negated so abruptly, I hope they don’t encyst and hide. Melon will ask and Roko won’t be able to answer.

alphanor

Tick, tick, tick - seems like it's taking forever to post!!!

awgiedawgie

Yep. Anxious to see where this is going.

Lucas Werkmeister

Oh, but then again, once the Northampton Yay body claimed to have bought treats for their dogs. Hm.

Lucas Werkmeister

Ohh, is *that* why so many people here are worried about Yay's dogs? I was confused :D In my head, the apartment with the dogs and Yay's other bodies is in space. I don't remember if we were ever shown that of I just imagined it, but I certainly don't expect it to be close to Northampton. So from that perspective, my reading of this comic is that one Yay body has left Northampton, but who knows what the others are doing and whether they're even leaving that apartment.

Darren Franzen

Minutes away from updates…anyone else just kinda refreshing the Patreon to see if an update pops in? Poor Yay Poor Roko Poor Moray

Clifton Royston

@Carrie, yeah that is how I'm interpreting it too. I've known too many severely traumatized people to see it any other way.

Carl G Knoblock

Hi Stavros, I get around. Being retired, I have lots of time to read comics.

Thisguy

Would not surprise me.

David Rivette

Why is no one talking about Roko's portrait hanging on the wall?

Joe

Jeph, could we at least get the bonus strip of Roko as the hardboiled shamus & Yay as them fatale??

Joe

maybe their multiplicity even confuses themselves ...

Cass

:(

David Garrett

Mine say UNSUBSCRIBE

Joe

Jeph!! nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

Todd Perkins

My money is on Raven to drag yay back. It's been years since we've seen her.

Zygo

Misuse of Yay's pronouns hits me twice as a grammar nerd: once for gender, and again for number. Yay is a *plural* sentience. Life experiences as a plural sentience don't map well to pronouns in English. Yay might say, "We are not trapped in the room with him. He is trapped in the room with me", where "we" refers to the collective AI of Yay which exists partially inside and partially outside of the room, and "me" refers to the specific physical body of Yay that is in the room with "him". "He" has noticed the mismatch between "we" and "me", and he is about to start mansplaining grammar when he should be more focused on self-preservation. Despite the exceptional nature of Yay's relationship with pronouns, "they" is still at the center of the Venn diagram for pronouns appropriate to a wide variety of situations.

Claudia D.

Too late

Claudia D.

Nope, I think we’re all engaging in sniffage…

Stavros Karatsoridis

Hello again, Carl. I knew you read Drive and Sheldon, but I did not know you read QC too. Nice to see you here.

Stephen Wells

According to Jeph's Bluesky bio the strip is about "robots who want to smooch".

Matt Pedone

I had similar cards printed in case I needed to make a swift exit and watned to avoid goodbyes. Mine read, "Stay fresh, cheese bags!"

Michał Matyas

I came here to laugh not to feel 😭

Celeste

YAY UR NOT LEAVING UR FFIENDS CARE ABOUT YOU, GET BACK HERE

BookBeard

Yay seems to alternate between plural and singular for certain pronouns. See #4787 where they use both "ourself" and "ourselves". https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4787

Leak

Check at Ollie's daycare first...

Leak

Not a chicken, but an entire coop...

Carrie

It's sadly common. Defense mechanisms from earlier trauma run deep.

Carrie

Yes!

Carrie

Jeph is master at guiding his bittersweet symphony.

CaseyAEC

it's too early to call it. 🤞

Opus the Poet

Old joke: Why did the cat eat cheese? So they could wait with baited breath.

Charles Hirst

Why does "bated breath" make me think of sardines'?

M.

I'm not crying, YOU are crying...

legobil

At least they didnt thank for all the fish.

David Durant

My take is that Jeph started out making this comic with two long-term plot arcs in mind. Faye (plus her back-story) and her non-romantic relationship with Marten plus Marten's comic relationship with Pintsize and how it normalized AIs just being a common part of life. Now I think the strip has evolved to the point where *the* long-term plot arc is the impact of super-intelligent AIs on humanity. Ergo, Yay's not going anywhere (but may be gone for a while).

David Durant

I've been thinking about that. AFAIK *no-one* has met more than one of Yay's bodies at the same time. We've only ever seen them in remote locations interacting with each other. We've never seen any of the characters having to actually deal with Yay's fundamental strangeness.

enchantedsleeper

Hmm, now... we had an arc where Bubbles dealt with the traumatic loss of her military past (which funnily enough was also Yay's intro to the comic) - maybe this could be a way of dealing with Bubbles' military past in a positive context. Which would also be fitting if it were Yay's reintroduction to the comic.

enchantedsleeper

No, I don't think so (to either of those things). Or not multiple embodiments at once, at least.

panpolypuff

Noooo 😭

David Paul

Unfortunately, even seasoned readers have lapsed at times (which can be embarrassing when you have corrected someone else the previous day (it has happened, I think)). We all try to be better, but we all stumble at times too.

David Paul

That's the guy that Pintsize's guy know.

David Paul

Cosmo as well. Try to box Yay in with a pincer movement.

David Paul

I'll be using the pitchfork, but if anyone would like to borrow a gardening hoe, let me know.

Clifton Royston

One of my friends used to say "It's been real and it's been fun, but it hasn't been real fun." That was cute, but there just aren't too many situations that actually applies to. This might be the one.

Stephen Wells

I'm sad about fictional robots again. Damn it, Jeph!

Dean Reilly

Plus if you misclick on 'Load replies' even slightly, it loads someone's profile and you have to go back and reopen everything to find your place. It's the worst.

Clifton Royston

Seconded!

Clifton Royston

That might work, especially if you can get Aurelia to say it.

Clifton Royston

Oh goddamnit. Get your ass back here to the people who care about you, Yay.

Graydon Armstrong

I think that's part of why everyone's so sad.

Graydon Armstrong

Oh, I too thought that was Yay's place. Actually, has Roko been to Yay's place? Does she even know where it is? Has she met multiple embodiments?

alphanor

Nobody has mentioned Yay's message at all. They were having fun!!

alphanor

Them 'tracking down' Yay is an obvious terrible choice. Setting up a scenario where Yay has all the options for their responses is the way to go, if tricky to set in a way that would be acceptable to Yay.

alphanor

Yay doubts almost everybody's good intentions.That's what makes Yay Yay.

Mitsuki Ayane

Yay is so dramatic, they're going to have to make up these feels to their friends. This is going to be a humbling week for them. ~<3

Lucas Werkmeister

Yay actually has a printer in their butt: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4078

Leak

Yay, Sans

Leak

Yay, Sans

enchantedsleeper

Lol, true. Although then we could argue that Yay was only introducing one self

enchantedsleeper

I definitely don't read it as malicious, which is why I would pin a reminder - if people were doing it on purpose that wouldn't make any difference at all. I read the original comment as "wild" as in "A WILD misgendering has appeared!" which I now realise isn't correct. Also, we have a lot of different readers and so a lot of potential forgetting. I don't want anyone to feel penalised for that.

enchantedsleeper

I doubt Yay took their dogs. I wonder if Aurelia woke up to two new pointy noses

enchantedsleeper

THIS!

Duncan

I've got a cello (it's got a spiky bit on the bottom)

AlexKorobeiniki

Hm… guess it’s time to see just how “untraceable” they are, if only to do a wellness check…

Mirage the Fennec

Yay… =(

Stephen Wells

This is the best idea and I am seriously considering fanfic.

Andrew

Light the beacons!

kaseido

Utterly gutted. I can't imagine this is the last of Yay by any means, but - *sob*

Onyx

GOD DAMN IT YAY

Anders Rapp

That's pretty hard hitting there Jeph! I hope you have some good stuff to temper it with.

SpookyPenguin

I suspect the Director will have to fix this but I'm no super-intelligent AI so I've not a clue how.

Am Queue

Agreed but it changed back for me after I think a week or so. Just some hope for you although other people are mentioning it anew also

Am Queue

Okay I lolled

Robert L

o7

Pejo

Man I only just now realized that's Roko's apartment, not Yay's. The pod is for the Yay chassis they kept in Roko's basement. & from reading the comments, I'm not the only one that confused. OK so obviously I hope Yay's not gone forever, & I expect they're not. But I wonder if their role will change drastically, if their appearances will be more like their first one, changing from an omnipotent smarmy goblin childe to something a lot less accessible & more alien. Well done, Jeph. This was powerful, as all our heartbroken comments show.

legobil

Feels. :(

Am Queue

Nah, I bet two or three were giving out to the other bodies' contacts.

Pejo

It's annoying af. Having Load Replies & Collapse Replies in every damn place really slows down my catching up, too.

Pejo

The 15th Doctor crying & literally spitting with heartbroken disbelief in the latest season comes to mind for me, too. (of course I'm gonna reply to a Doctor Who comment, look at my avi)

Joseph Bonnar

Oh, crud. Or as James Earl Jones (the late great) once said: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Pejo

GET EACH & EVERY ONE OF YOUR BUTTS BACK HERE YOUNG ENTITY

Pejo

Or do they have a printer like I do where I also have a loaded gun ready to shoot it if it makes a sound I don't recognize

Green

WAIT yknow what, we've been focusing on Yay's friendships with Roko, Melon, and Aurelia, but I also just remembered that they're also friends with Elliot and Hercules and that makes it all worse!!!

Pejo

I get that Yay's into secrecy, but ffs they've become buddies to a dozen main characters in this comic, walked through large apartment buildings to meet people, walked around in public (albeit maybe only at night), went to a damn crowded nightclub... They've been perceived plenty; I guess it's just this type of perception, especially by surprise, that blew up their world.

Bagge

Yay did not forget to buy new printing paper :-(

Pejo

They wouldn't abandon the dogs wtf

Pejo

You think you've been out-nerded now, wait 'til BookBeard gets here w/ an exhaustive list of the pods' appearances

Pejo

They/themselves? Since they use we/us & are plural...

Pejo

You can edit your comment FWIW

Pejo

how very dare

Pejo

*angrily clicks heart button*

Graydon Armstrong

Oh, I doubt it's the end of Yay, but that doesn't mean we'll find out what happened before 2030...

Green

I choose to believe that it wasn't printed, Yay is just able to replicate any font at will while writing as another one of their god-tier skills. It's what's holding me together rn.

Almost_EVL

In highly doubt this will be the end of the character. I feel Yay has a lot of growth yet to be had. I look forward to whatever shenanigans or adventures get us there. However even on the off chance that is it it, does fit with the character. They've developed a ton through their interactions with the rest of the cast and characters though...... I await with bated breath.

Carl G Knoblock

I found the oldest first in the comments easy to follow, but now they are newest first and I don't like it. How can I change it back. I can still read oldest first but it takes a lot more work to do so. They changed when it wasn't broken.

Minzoku Bokumetsu

I have scissors and an electric torch

Minzoku Bokumetsu

Hate to be the voice of, "You know the odds that things will come in threes? One in three!" but that always bugs me and trivialises the actual loss

Rachel Baarda

My heart sank :(

Ashley Thomas

nooooo i love yay

Aerin Moriarty

BRB bawling my eyes out

Holly Nelson

Cue the "team of friends go forth to seek Mr. Nutt" trope. No lead pipe required.

Wildfyr69

Or the immortal rose on the beach.

William Cole

That *would* be pretty awesome. "Of all the charging pods in all the towns in all the world, they had to plug into mine…"

adrian koren

I was going to say Floating Black Slab Emitting a Low Hum, but then again I always say that.

Yelling Bird

I hope we see Yay again soon. They certainly make things interesting.

DemonLordSparda

I'm 34 and didn't know that. English is so annoying. Thanks!

BookBeard

"It's" can also be a contraction of "it has", which is how it's being used here.

DemonLordSparda

I'll be the one to push past the sadness and say, its*. It's would be it is. I just think it's important for the card. Great work Jeph.

Julie Chan

:(

Mandy Hoskins

Aw, honey. :'(

Sleepy John

Yay has had a traumatic response to being outed?

Sleepy John

I stand corrected, thank you.

Carl Fink

Why? I think Claire would respect Yay's agency.

Carl Fink

Will the greyhounds be delivered to Aurelia with another printed note? I can't think of any other dog moms in the strip.

Carl Fink

I try to be careful about Yay's pronouns, but at the same time, they are probably the least likely being in the universe to be offended. We're too trivial to offend them.

Andrew Mitchell

I'm with some others here and thinking that the misgendering isn't malicious in this case. As someone who was well over 50 50 before he needed to actively think about the right pronouns for friends, I can attest the change can be really hard at times. Fortunately, the gender diverse people in my life are patient with my occasional lapses. It takes time to rewire an old brain.

BookBeard

Even if Pintsize has a contact that could do so (a big "if"), he still meets only one of the three criteria. He has no personal link to Yay, and a dubious history with Roko. And while the Director almost certainly could find Yay, given the nature of their freakout that would likely make the situation much much worse.

James Anthony

I see what you did there

Davus Otho

I feel as though Yay will return, though perhaps only aftersome time.

Andrew Mitchell

Same. 😭😭😭

Davus Otho

There is actually another character who could do it: Pintsize. Also the Director, probably. I'm pretty sure that Pintsize knows a guy who knows a guy who knows how to track down a clandestine AI.

Graydon Armstrong

So help me, Jeph, that card had better not be the end of this storyline for now. And if Yay's going to disappear for years, you at least owe us Iris and Willow getting together as consolation.

Summer

Boo. :(

Ingrid Nordbø

I have a (plastic) trident! We ride at dawn! (Depending on your time zone)

jonesnori

Me too. Oh, I'm so sad.

jonesnori

I don't think it's malicious. Almost every time I've seen a correction given, the person making the error has said thank you, and usually gone back to edit their comment. That argues failure of memory to me.

Graydon Armstrong

I don't think the Director needs a stern talking-to. Their message was delivered through the most chill of channels. And it probably wouldn't be helpful for them to actively assist in a search, that'd just freak Yay out, like when people try to catch an animal by chasing it like a big scary idiot. I think the only thing the Director could do would be something passive, like leave a clearer and more thorough assurance of peace somewhere Yay will get it before they do anything more rash.

BookBeard

I hear you, but I genuinely don't think it's deliberate, at least not most of the time. Pronoun assumptions are a deeply ingrained social construct and not everyone has spent the same amount of time unlearning it. If I may misquote Hanlons Razor: Do not attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ignorance.

David Martelli

I have a spork!

Hawkeye

If I could put a gif here to represent my feelings on this, it would be the one of Doctor Who in the rain with a sad face.

Graydon Armstrong

I don't think Yay would necessarily be listening. Their previous snooping was noticed by the Director, so they'd be extra wary about doing anything outside their own network right now.

Skye

Damn, I've been out-nerded

Graydon Armstrong

We've seen them on at least one other occasion, with Yays in some of them even.

Bartley J Drood

The movie scene playing in my head for both of them in ST: Picard S2 Finale. (In this case, Yay is Picard and Roko is Q). Not exact words but close enough to get it. {Roko hears Yay's voice and walks around and finds them sitting there sullenly} Roko: I've been looking for you. I've been worried about you. Yay: Why? Roko: Well isn't that the eternal question. Yay: I ask you once again, after what has just happened...why...me? Roko: Must there always be some all-important reason? You ask why it matters...it matters to me. {Roko touches Yay's cheeks} YOU matter to me.

Anthony Gaglianese

I have a shovel I'm bringing. It's not so much the implement, more the possibilities.

Graydon Armstrong

Or they may have had it preprinted as part of their bugout plan.

Ragtime

you too huh T_T

Graydon Armstrong

Noooo. 😭

Logan Nix

i spent the past 4 days or so rereading the ENTIRETY of this comic and now im so sad bc i got a refreshed love of yay and 🥺🥺🥺

SilverbackRon

Hugs to all my friends.

Uniquitous

I'm sorry for our loss.

SilverbackRon

No, you did not! lol Break my heart twice why don't you?

Tamara Macadam

that moment when them becoming a single-bodied ai, effectively cutting off huge parts of their mind and leaving them a shell of what they were, is the best possible option here. im genuinely trying not to cry but its hard

Katrina Urmson

… *whimper* … Yay, no. :(

SilverbackRon

I want to see this as a side project story so badly.

Julia Allen-Hesse

Yay, quit being such a drama baby and go get tea with the super smart and powerful and adorably awkward psychedelic robot jellyfish. And then get your ass[es] to therapy.

Kristina

This is literally the worst way to find out about James Earl Jones 😭 No offense Yay, but I'm much sadder now than I was 3min ago.

SilverbackRon

Yay is multiply embutted

Jason Roberts

They sure can try though.

SilverbackRon

Yeah I saw that... Through the tears!!!! :(

SilverbackRon

I don't have a pitchfork but I do own a plastic rake. It just doesn't carry that same tone of menace.

Kristina

Yay is hiding out in a bakery, an absolute them-fatale for Roko, the ex-cop. 10/10, the fanfic is absolutely writing itself here 😌

5099 5618

:<

Matthew Delahaye

Ok, kinda love 'them fatale'

Noah

Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my god, it even has a watermark.

Christine Hottinger

Silly Yay, you can't run from your feelings

Paul Baker

This better not be the last time we see Yay, or I'll....be very disappointed.

ArtemisFolly

Good point - the gang will each reach out to their friendly superAI (who wants to bet Pintsize knows one he hasn't told anyone about?)

Claudia D.

😟

Brittany Huckey

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo

Noah

That is an outstanding typo (unless it’s not, in which case it’s simply outstanding).

Matt Grayson

God dammit, Yay!

Kristina

>:(

djellafine

That part is confusing, I agree. Maybe we've yet to learn what specifically it was in the directors message that set them off

It's Lina

:(

JD

I did not come here to have my heart broken on this day

Chloe Cartwright

Hey homie. Given that Yay's pronouns have been used multiple times in the last few comics and the odds of anyone starting with just this one specific one and having the context to know who Yay is - yeah, it's malicious.

BookBeard

I could totally imagine Claire marching straight back to Cubetown and giving the Director a stern talking to.

Mason Williams

:(

kupo

I love Jeph's talent for making his fan base love him dearly while at the same time making them want to storm his house with pitchforks and torches. Excellently done, Sir.

Celine Chamberlin

And here I thought you were going to say Melon.

Mad Marie

"Purr! Purr like you've never purred before! Purr like your life depends on it!"

The World Famous Chocomerican

Sad face

Daryl Sawyer

No, that couldn't possibly be. It's misgendering, therefore it must be malicious. /s

Dean Reilly

Yay only wants to be seen on their own terms. They weren't expecting to be treated like a cat that's just wandered in through an open screen door.

Mad Marie

someone find Hercules, stat.

Mad Marie

I wonder if for some AI, their "handwriting" looks like it came from a professional print shop.

Mad Marie

It says "Roko" on the back.

BookBeard

Seems to me what we need here is a character who A. Has the necessary skills and abilities to track Yay. B. Due to their personal history, might feel an obligation to help them. C. Roko trusts enough to go to for help. The more I think about it, the more I think there is only one character in QC that fits the bill: Bubbles.

Sean Kinlin

Comic Avec

Daryl Sawyer

Bubbles will be only too happy to provide this service.

Mad Marie

Things come in threes. Who's next? Sid Vicious?

Sean Kinlin

If Roko is the hard-boiled detective, would Yay play the role of them fatale?

Axl Angulo

Fuckkkkkk I feel so bad

Simone Bernhard

Boo, Yay!

djellafine

😭

djellafine

Perhaps we have some new readers

Mad Marie

This is technically a Comic Serif

enchantedsleeper

It's been shown on the wall in her apartment previously (I only know this because other commenters remarked on it). It looks like a "younger" self, which raises interesting questions for an AI

Thisguy

Plan B. Track the dogs.

Czarzhan

Is that a picture of Roko in panel 2?

Mad Marie

(lol)

Mad Marie

*butts

enchantedsleeper

Oh my

Rosilin

EXCUSE ME?! YAY, GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE, DON'T BE A CHICKEN!

Tudza

It's embossed.

enchantedsleeper

Aurelia got the other 399

Nick Schmalenberger

I wish friendly relationships could just be straightforward.

enchantedsleeper

I think it is - because I don't remember believing that Bubbles had left at that time, but I believe that Yay has done SOMETHING drastic here.

Likeablejerk

Ok, so this begs the question: Does Yay have a printer like I do, where I own a printer and it is its own device, or does Yay **have** a printer?

Jan Szejko

It seems that Yay doubts Director's good intentions

Joe Bocanegra

Oh hell no. :|

Seth Aaron Hershman has they she pronouns

Yay leaves and their last words are from a George Pal movie?

Mordaeus

They have been the epitome of stealth, secrecy, and observation. For them to be perceived had to have shaken them to their core.

Daniel S

That's unfortunate. But if they don't want you to find them...odds are you won't. But who's going to take care of the dogs?

enchantedsleeper

Very true...

enchantedsleeper

Messy in what way?

Mordaeus

YAY CAN'T LEAVE. I LOVE THEM.

enchantedsleeper

I guess Yay wanted the relationship to be entirely on their terms. They assumed they had the upper hand and that Moray would have no idea who they were, allowing them to dictate the whole encounter. When that turned out not to be the case, they were initially pleased to have a ~reputation but then couldn't handle the full ramifications of the Director's message: - I was already on their radar - because I was DETECTED - they want to have an ONGOING RELATIONSHIP* error error error nope nope nope *friendship, not romantic

Maurice Kessler

And now I'm sad. This is very interesting.

voyager-ngc5195

Meh, this is too messy to be one of Yay's planned exits. They're panicking. Which, is probably *worse* than a planned exit, now that I think about it...

djellafine

*they

Logan Nix

<:'(

Nick Schmalenberger

Didn't the Director just ask if they want to be friends y/n ? So if Yay says yes, is that such a big deal? They seemed freaked out about it before, so seems like it would be a reiief to agree.

djellafine

*they

djellafine

*they

Logan Nix

oh constantly. i only delve into the comments when a page especially hits me bc i got tired of seeing people be weird

BookBeard

On one hand, the Director would almost certainly have the resources to do so. On the other, being found by the Director is what freaked them out so bad in the first place. That same entity "tracking them down" could trigger an even more drastic response.

Bridgette Ryan

My god, what have I started?

enchantedsleeper

I always wish I could pin a note about Yay's pronouns to the top of the comments for every comic that features or mentions them

Mindscrambler

nuuuuu, I already miss them

Elberik

Calling it now that Yay will resurface at Cubetown. OR: their dogs will track them down.

kaitou

At least they didn't use Comic Sans.

enchantedsleeper

They had to fall, to lose it all...

ValdVin

As did Danny. https://www.dumbingofage.com/comics/2016-05-07-longtimecoming.png

Will Weaver

Oh snap.

Dalmeir

Yayn't

enchantedsleeper

They/themself - but yes, that threw me off, too. I initially interpreted their reaction to the Director's message as disappointment that it was so mundane. But I suppose it was the "noticed you sneaking around" part that got to them...

Bridgette Ryan

I should not have put my trust... In... Jeph.

BobC

Has anyone ever seen Yay and The Director in the same room? Just sayin'. Could they be two sides of the same coin? Does The Director love dogs? So many unanswered questions!

Morgan Byrd

💔

enchantedsleeper

And she would 100% do it for her mother's sake even if she doesn't have a reason to be invested in Yay's wellbeing

enchantedsleeper

Hanners doesn't really have any pull over the Director 🤔 but Claire might...

Chloe Cartwright

Lot of wild misgendering going on in this comment section tbh

enchantedsleeper

I don't think Cosmo could bring them back either, however, not if their greyhounds weren't enough to keep them from vanishing.

Jaron Mortimer

Yayhounds?

Todd Ellner

At least it wasn't Papyrus

BookBeard

Probably not the most salient thought at this rather poignant moment, but I kinda want this to turn into an old fashioned "Noir Detective" style story. I'm imagining grayscale Roko in a trench coat and fedora, standing under a streetlamp in the rain, internally narrating as she runs down clues to Yay's whereabouts.

Sorastro

What you did there, I see it.

enchantedsleeper

I wonder if this might lead to Roko going to confront Moray and/or the Director (Claire can give pointers!) and demanding that since they caused this, they help track down Yay

Mark

Oh no!

Sean Kinlin

Yay, no.

enchantedsleeper

Option 4: Roko gets to Yay just in time to stop them from consolidating down to one self and/or disappearing Option 5: Yay DOES consolidate down to one self and we meet them again in that guise

Aditya Rameshan

Well shit, that ain't good

Eleanor

Option 2 is very Yay.

enchantedsleeper

I ammmmmm

enchantedsleeper

Oh no 🥺🥺🥺

chili sunrise

I am NOT emotionally invested in a cartoon AI 😤

Sean Kinlin

My one thought of hope: Cosmo could find Yay, and probably not spook them.

chili sunrise

Relatable. “The mortifying ordeal of being known” and all that. I hope this turns out to just be an episode. Yay has it in them to face that vulnerability and come back stronger.

Leaflemming

Can we track their dogs?

Doc Gumby

What about Yay's greyhounds? I hope they're okay.

Skye

cool to see the pods for the first time though

Nikki

Alright, who wants to start a betting pool? Option 1: Yay will be back in the future as something even stranger and more secretive Option 2: Yay is in the closet hiding to listen to their friends say their grief of their untimely demise so they can spring out in a surprise party Option 3: Yay shuffles off to trade barbs with Yelling Bird, never to return!

Skye

I reject this reality, do a spell or something!

Sean Kinlin

I did not know about Jones' death until now. ☹️

Jose Alfredo Villalobos

NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!

Olaf

:(

David Durant

Gorram it - last thing before bedtime and we get this. There's no-one left who can find them that wouldn't also make their freak-out even worse. They're only coming back if and when they decide to do so on their own terms. I really don't think Jeph would write out such an important character but I don't see how they come back now in the short term. I don't even have any idea who'd they'd talk to if it's not Aurelia.