Questionable Content XVIII: "That's only sort of good news"

[The Glyphstone]

Corpse Witch, maybe? Marten has only ever interacted with Bubbles in context with Faye, and Faye only knew CW though Bubbles. So Marten-Faye-Bubbles-CW?

[halfeye]

Corpse Witch, maybe? Marten has only ever interacted with Bubbles in context with Faye, and Faye only knew CW though Bubbles. So Marten-Faye-Bubbles-CW?

I thought I remembered Faye directly interacting with CW?

[The Glyphstone]

They did talk face to face alone once. And actually now I remember CW was Fayes official employer, so thats still 2 steps to Marten.

[Dame_Mechanus]

Yay's dogs or Nelson maybe.

The best I can do with Nelson is that Nelson got a document from Hannelore's father, who met Marten. That's a pretty weak connection, but it's there. However, Nelson also works with Beepatrice, who has met Marten after she wandered home with Claire.

As for Yay's dogs, they haven't directly interacted with anyone other than Yay. But Yay has interacted several times with Faye, who is (as mentioned) Marten's roommate. So that's three degrees. Possibly three degrees is as far as we can get. (I also guess it depends on whether or not you consider pets to be characters in that regard.)

[Delicious Taffy]

Alright, this one's pretty funny. I appreciate Aurelia channeling her Embarrassing Mom Energy just to mess with Marigold.

[Wraith]

I'm warming to the idea that Aurelia has been trolling everyone about everything for the last ~year or so. She knows exactly what she's doing, she knows more zoomer slang than the rest of the cast combined, she directly commissions art from sexdrawer69, and she's enjoying watching others react.

It's like someone's Dad persistently referring to "Pokey-Mans". They KNOW the difference, but that's not the point.

[Traab]

The question I have is, why was marigold taken off guard by this? Is this not how mommy milkers does her show? Did she change her style just to troll burger oni?

[Rodin]

The question I have is, why was marigold taken off guard by this? Is this not how mommy milkers does her show? Did she change her style just to troll burger oni?

This is the question I’ve got right now. The way the stream was explained earlier implied a wholesome stream that just happened to have a fetishistic avatar, and that most of the fans were there for a cozy time with a subset being um…spicier. Aurelia was implied to be mostly oblivious to the sex icon nature of her avatar.

That’s not what we’ve seen here, which is a borderline porn stream that’s pushing the boundaries of whatever platform she’s streaming on. The tone is so dissonant that it seems impossible for Marigold to NOT know beforehand unless Aurelia has taken a deliberate right turn specifically for this collab stream.

[Wraith]

Given that Marigold had to ask "Is this a bit?" in reference to Aurelia's solid gold sex futon - baring in mind that she is sitting next to Aurelia, who is obviously not sitting on a solid gold sex futon - I'm assuming that nothing in this stream was planned and Marigold is as confused as we are.

I would predict that Marigold is about to have a stern talk with Aurelia, who admits that she was acting up to make sure that she "fit in" with BurgerOni's viewers, got carried away, and it got weirder than she intended. I can see that fitting in. Aurelia has a reputation as a Cool Mom to maintain, but doesn't really know how to get there - inanity ensures.

I'm no longer going to try and actively predict this arc any more, though. I've tried that, and then we ended up with quad-boobed vtuber cows, so I accept now that it's a futile endeavour.

[Delicious Taffy]

Idk, this one is just cute. And yes, a house is a very good something she could use her newfound money on. It's a good investment and she'd be responsible doing it. They could have a lot more room that way, too.

[Traab]

No reason not to. She makes so much money she has to hire an accountant and a manager to deal with it all. So she can clearly afford it. Though too be fair, a vr streaming career may not feel like a very stable source of income. Ive seen it happen a lot with various youtubers who last quite a few years, are well off, even selling merch and such, then they lose the motivation for doing the same thing over and over and are unable to pivot to something else that grabs them and their audience.

[halfeye]

No reason not to. She makes so much money she has to hire an accountant and a manager to deal with it all. So she can clearly afford it. Though too be fair, a vr streaming career may not feel like a very stable source of income. Ive seen it happen a lot with various youtubers who last quite a few years, are well off, even selling merch and such, then they lose the motivation for doing the same thing over and over and are unable to pivot to something else that grabs them and their audience.

That would be a problem if she got a mortgage on a huge mansion, but if she paid cash she currently has then so long as she has enough left for living expenses, that should be okay.

[Keltest]

That would be a problem if she got a mortgage on a huge mansion, but if she paid cash she currently has then so long as she has enough left for living expenses, that should be okay.

Well thats the rub isnt it? Even if she can afford a nice house, if her income dries up she may not be able to pay the property taxes and utilities on it.

You actually see stuff like this with, of all things, football players. Once they hit a certain age/level of wear on their bodies and they dont actively play anymore, they end up having to drop a lot of their luxuries because they cant afford the upkeep on them anymore and they didnt invest for a 50+ year retirement while they still had the money.

Marigold at least still has some marketable skills in terms of tech.

[Traab]

Well thats the rub isnt it? Even if she can afford a nice house, if her income dries up she may not be able to pay the property taxes and utilities on it.

You actually see stuff like this with, of all things, football players. Once they hit a certain age/level of wear on their bodies and they dont actively play anymore, they end up having to drop a lot of their luxuries because they cant afford the upkeep on them anymore and they didnt invest for a 50+ year retirement while they still had the money.

Marigold at least still has some marketable skills in terms of tech.

Exactly this. Yeah she could probably outright pay off a new house, but property tax SUUUUUUCKS! And the bigger the property, the higher the amount you have to pay every year. Its like the lotto winners who buy a 200 million dollar mansion, then lose it next year because they cant afford to pay 2 million or more a year on taxes, let alone the rest of the upkeep on a property that size.

[Mechalich]

Exactly this. Yeah she could probably outright pay off a new house, but property tax SUUUUUUCKS! And the bigger the property, the higher the amount you have to pay every year. Its like the lotto winners who buy a 200 million dollar mansion, then lose it next year because they cant afford to pay 2 million or more a year on taxes, let alone the rest of the upkeep on a property that size.

Property tax really isn't that much in most jurisdictions. The 2 million on a 200 million you just mentioned is a rate of 1%. That's nothing. At a more reasonable price point, the annual property tax bill on a home is likely equivalent to what 2-3 months of rent on that home would be. Yes, it is important to recognize that owning a home outright doesn't mean there are suddenly no costs, but those costs are comparatively low.

Now, there are exceptions, the big one being a situation where the value of the property increases drastically even though the actual property hasn't changed due to changes in land value and housing demand in the region. This is most notable in extremely high demand areas with limited stock, like NYC. This is not true of Northampton, MA with a declining population. Also, Northampton simply doesn't have any super high value properties available - a quick redfin search reveals the priciest place in the city is currently selling for 1.68 million.

[Rodin]

All of this assumes Marigold wants a mansion, which we still have no indication of. She wants a house instead of a 2-bedroom apartment with a shared living space (so she has a bit less than a one bedroom apartment currently).

Something like this would probably be more up her alley. House with room to have a dedicated gaming/streaming room and a good setup to have guests over, but not a mansion either.

Also, looking at those house prices makes me understand why the entire cast share apartments. Jeebus. There are vacant lots selling for nearly as much as I bought my house for 5 years ago.

[Mechalich]

Something like this would probably be more up her alley. House with room to have a dedicated gaming/streaming room and a good setup to have guests over, but not a mansion either.

That house is a bit far from town center. Marigold's ideal is actually probably right downtown, since she doesn't appear to drive well, ever. Like most of the cast she has a massively pro-pedestrian bias. But yes, there's a range of options suitable in a price range from roughly 350-800k, depending on how much space one wishes to allot to the AIs - if May and Momo get there own rooms that means a need for more house, whereas if they just charge slumped against the wall or something then you don't. Regardless, I was mostly trying to make the point that Northampton simply doesn't really have any homes for the modern super-rich. Most of its high-end luxury residences are restored Victorian mansions built in the 19th century. This makes sense because there really isn't a lot to draw modern wealth to a small city outside of commuting range from Boston and NYC - where all the money really is.

[Willie the Duck]

Yeah, okay, I could do a 'one of the gang buys a house' plotline. Those are alwaysusually interesting.

Doylistically, I think it could go a couple of ways. One would be rich Marigold decides she needs just the best house (to impress Aurelia, and then as just a mania) and needs to be talked down after she starts trying to buy up entire blocks near downtown to raze and turn into her dream house (because nothing on the market is right). Another would be standard travails of the house-hunt, where this one is perfect except the toilets are on the ceiling/there are ghosts in the basement/the neighbor is the guy who made that Burger Oni/MommyMilkers fanart, on to the next (I think we saw that with an apartment hunt for... one of the bakery cast). Another being the four of them each having different ideas about what a good house is, and the negotiations* and fallouts from that. Personally I am guessing #2, but #3 or something akin to it (the move creates interpersonal drama). #1 would be out of character with what we know of how Marigold has handled her success (exceedingly conservatively and afraid that it all might disappear tomorrow).
*And sure, only Marigold has a true say in things, but let's say the walls continue to be too thin and Momo decides she's had enough listening to other-peoples-sexytimes, she could decide she doesn't want to move in. Instead she gets a closet apartment next to the fire station with a window overlooking where the hunky firefighters wash their firetrucks, and now Marigold fears she'll never see her again and will that sway her decision?

[Traab]

Renee and brun went apartment hunting.

[The Glyphstone]

Dora and Tai live in a house, don't they? I remember dora house/apartment hunting at one point where the landlady said a witch had cursed the building.

[Wraith]

It's going to be another "Jeph has a fun idea but puts absolutely no thought into it" plot, I think.

Hannelore is the daughter of two independently wealthy multimillionaires; she lives in the same sort of apartment as a perpetually-broke welder like Faye.

Sven is not a millionaire, but from what we've gathered about him he's making enough money and has so few requirements as he might as well be. He lives in a condo that boasts the nigh-unique luxury of "having an upstairs bedroom".

Aurelia is a divorcee who raised two kids alone, and apparently doesn't have a job (apart from the relatively very recent streaming). She lives in a nice 3-bedroom detached property out in the suburbs.

"House prices", "property taxes" and "long term investment" just aren't the type of thing that QC likes to deal with, except in fleeting references. I respect that - having bought a house I can say that it's very, very dull and incredibly tedious and wouldn't want to read a realistic version of it in a webcomic - but at the same time, I suspect that Jeph is avoiding it because he just doesn't know much about it and doesn't want another 'raisins' or 'emotional labour' moment.

[Keltest]

It's going to be another "Jeph has a fun idea but puts absolutely no thought into it" plot, I think.

Hannelore is the daughter of two independently wealthy multimillionaires; she lives in the same sort of apartment as a perpetually-broke welder like Faye.

Sven is not a millionaire, but from what we've gathered about him he's making enough money and has so few requirements as he might as well be. He lives in a condo that boasts the nigh-unique luxury of "having an upstairs bedroom".

Aurelia is a divorcee who raised two kids alone, and apparently doesn't have a job (apart from the relatively very recent streaming). She lives in a nice 3-bedroom detached property out in the suburbs.

"House prices", "property taxes" and "long term investment" just aren't the type of thing that QC likes to deal with, except in fleeting references. I respect that - having bought a house I can say that it's very, very dull and incredibly tedious and wouldn't want to read a realistic version of it in a webcomic - but at the same time, I suspect that Jeph is avoiding it because he just doesn't know much about it and doesn't want another 'raisins' or 'emotional labour' moment.

Hasnt Jeph actually moved and bought/rented property before? I dont know his current living situation, but I seem to recall at least a couple times where he actually did look into some of that stuff.

[Delicious Taffy]

I suspect that Jeph is avoiding it because he just doesn't know much about it and doesn't want another 'raisins' or 'emotional labour' moment.

I sometimes wonder if he knows/cares about the raisins thing, and how much it actually affects him personally that people cared so much what snacks Brun ate as a kid.

Which part was the "emotional labour" moment, again? It seems fresher in your mind than it is in mine, and I haven't got the fortitude to skim the archive for it.

[VoxRationis]

It seems odd seeing (here and elsewhere) the "gamer basement" being made into an aspiration, rather than something arranged out of necessity (largely because one's parents don't appreciate having a dining room table or living room television monopolized for long periods of time).

[Mechalich]

Aurelia is a divorcee who raised two kids alone, and apparently doesn't have a job (apart from the relatively very recent streaming). She lives in a nice 3-bedroom detached property out in the suburbs.

Considering that Aurelia is attractive enough to easily acquire male companionship of buff boys half her age and the art seems to draw her aging backwards, my suspicion that she was absolutely stunning in her twenties and that the unseen husband did something that made bank (I'm feeling lawyer, anyone else?) resulting in a very generous divorce settlement including, probably the house outright.

"House prices", "property taxes" and "long term investment" just aren't the type of thing that QC likes to deal with, except in fleeting references. I respect that - having bought a house I can say that it's very, very dull and incredibly tedious and wouldn't want to read a realistic version of it in a webcomic - but at the same time, I suspect that Jeph is avoiding it because he just doesn't know much about it and doesn't want another 'raisins' or 'emotional labour' moment.

I would note that buying a house with cash is actually significantly less complicated than getting a mortgage, bizarre at that might sound, since many of the more complicated steps involving banks just disappear to be replaced with 'I need a cashier's check for $$XX, here's my two forms of ID' (which is actually a moment I'd really like to see in the comic, since doing that is absolutely as potent as it gets in terms of bringing home the impact of wealth).

[Willie the Duck]

I sometimes wonder if he knows/cares about the raisins thing, and how much it actually affects him personally that people cared so much what snacks Brun ate as a kid.

We do know that he has reacted to some things (he made an 'enough already, I get it!' kind of remark about the overly cartoony *BLAM* when Faye's dad killed himself offscreen in a flashback, he cut his hand when he broke a glass in frustration with someone telling him he was making Marigold not-fat-enough). I believe Jeph knows about the two Reddits his comic has (one a hatewatch channel) and has maybe obliquely referenced a controversy or two (the kids watching the anime show). That one seems more like he treated it with a level of bemusement more than anything else. Whether he actually keeps up on the reddits and any controversies on a regular basis is unclear.

It's gotta be hard to be a creator on the internet/in the internet era. It'd be hard to know if some reddit thread of some message board is representative of your wider audience.

Hasnt Jeph actually moved and bought/rented property before? I dont know his current living situation, but I seem to recall at least a couple times where he actually did look into some of that stuff.

I have to imagine that he has. He's forty-...one? two? He hasn't lived in the same place the whole time. I see no reason to believe Jeph doesn't know anything about it.

Regarding the cast, Hanners lives in the same building as Faye for the same reason that in Friends cook and waitress Monica and Rachel live in the same apartment building as Network Usage somethingsomething manager and freeloading actor Chandler and Joey -- it is convenient to the plot and creator and much of the audience don't care*. Plus maybe a house seems like too much space, responsibility, and potentially dirty surfaces for her comfort level (and she's trying to make it on her own salary). There was a strip where Sven thinks to himself "I should buy a house..." but never gets around to it. Mostly, though, the explanation that works for me is that these characters are perpetually ~23-28 -- that age range where many of them are still figuring out their adult trajectory, no one has kids, most of their friends don't have houses either, and there's just not a huge amount of social pressure saying that you're *supposed* to have a house by now. Until something like this comes along, I guess.

[Rodin]

I'm pretty sure Dora still lives in an apartment, it's just an apartment in Amherst rather than a local one. They had to get her sofa up the stairs to much hilarity which furthers my thought that she's in an apartment building (as most people have their big sofas in the living room on the ground floor).

As to the likelihood of various characters having a house:

I bought my house at the age of 35. It was my first house, and I only bought it after a massive change in circumstances that made it feasible/desirable. If that change hadn't happened I would likely still be living in apartments. There's no reason not to for a single person - the only reason I had considered a house previously was because I wanted a garden.

I work with a number of guys in their late 20s to early 30s who are apartment dwellers, including some who are roommates to save money just like in QC. One guy is living with his parents ever since his girlfriend chucked him out.

Is it stereotypically sitcom? Of course. But sitcoms still got the idea from somewhere, and a bunch of (relatively) young people living in apartments when property is expensive is entirely plausible. QC is actually a lot more believable than a show like Friends, where everybody had extremely roomy and expensive apartments in New York. The apartments in QC have typically been shown to be one common area, and small kitchen, and a couple of smallish bedrooms with room for a bed and a maybe a computer. The cast afford it by splitting the cost among 2-3 people. The only big Friends style apartments belong to Sven and Yay, both of whom can afford it.

[Wraith]

I sometimes wonder if he knows/cares about the raisins thing, and how much it actually affects him personally that people cared so much what snacks Brun ate as a kid.

Raisins is absolutely a meme and almost certainly not an actual thing that Jeph worries about. I was just using it as an example of something where a big chunk of fandom looked at it and went, "What? That doesn't work that way at all".

By Jeph's own admission, he doesn't follow any of the Reddits not does he accept criticism via twitter, which he has severely cut back on in the last few months. That being said, it's something of a noted coincidence just how often something will be mentioned in one of the Reddit threads about something being odd or unexplained, only for it to be referenced and handwaved away a couple of comics later, its suggested that he Jeph at least lurks a little.

Which part was the "emotional labour" moment, again? It seems fresher in your mind than it is in mine, and I haven't got the fortitude to skim the archive for it.

One of the criticisms mentioned on the Reddit threads - I too don't care to comb through the archive for the exact comic, but it was where Marten was talking to Claire and admitted that he felt unsure - sad? - that his mother was "building a new family" with Jim and Sam, and he wasn't really a part of it. Claire's response was to tell Marten that if he wanted to be closer to his step-family, then he needed to invest more emotional labour into it.

What she meant was that Marten had to put time and effort into getting to know Jim and Sam, because they couldn't be expected to do all the socialising for him. But that's not what emotional labour is. Emotional labour is something like, when a waitress or an air stewardess has to smile and make nice with customers no matter how much of a jerk they're being; often unpaid, it's the "work" they have to do as part of their job that is emotionally taxing rather than physically or intellectually. Either Claire was insinuating that Marten had to perform as though he were happy and placate people he wanted to be around for no reward, or Jeph used the wrong phrase because... he picked up the cliff-notes from wikipedia, maybe? That's one theory, anyway.

[Mechalich]

Is it stereotypically sitcom? Of course. But sitcoms still got the idea from somewhere, and a bunch of (relatively) young people living in apartments when property is expensive is entirely plausible. QC is actually a lot more believable than a show like Friends, where everybody had extremely roomy and expensive apartments in New York. The apartments in QC have typically been shown to be one common area, and small kitchen, and a couple of smallish bedrooms with room for a bed and a maybe a computer. The cast afford it by splitting the cost among 2-3 people. The only big Friends style apartments belong to Sven and Yay, both of whom can afford it.

Yeah, I actually give QC a lot of credit in this regard. Most of the cast do not or did not until recently have any sort of legitimate career, they were all underemployed 20-somethings. In which case it makes sense to avoid homeownership so as to be more readily able to relocate, something the comic has addressed. Also, Northampton is a relatively small city and the number of apartment buildings that are primarily used by townies (as opposed to college students) is liable to be fairly small, possibly even single digits. Having the characters live in such close proximity is relatively modest probability tweak.

Now, at this point in the comic having one or more characters hit the point where they actually obtain a stable, reasonably well-paying career and chose to put down roots is quite reasonable, and buying a house (or a condo/townhome) is often part of that, since it's usually a good long term financial move even if you're happy living in an apartment. I'm actually hopeful for this subplot, despite disliking the road that brought the comic here severely.

[Cikomyr2]

This was a funny one