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

[Rodin]

I'm confused by today's comic. I assume that's supposed to be Claire's mother, since that's who is being discussed.

It doesn't look like her at all. In fact, it looks like Claire from a few years ago.

Just compare the characters from the last time we saw them with today's comic: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4681

I've mostly given up complaining about the art, but this is just ridiculous.

[Keltest]

I'm confused by today's comic. I assume that's supposed to be Claire's mother, since that's who is being discussed.

It doesn't look like her at all. In fact, it looks like Claire from a few years ago.

Just compare the characters from the last time we saw them with today's comic: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4681

I've mostly given up complaining about the art, but this is just ridiculous.

The eyebrows are a little bit thicker and the wrinkles or whatever under her eyes have blended into the outline of her eyes, but otherwise they look basically the same to me.

Which is not to say that doesnt Jeph only draws like 3 characters in different color schemes these days, but this particular example seems a bit overexaggerated.

[Wraith]

This is the second time we ever saw Aurelia, the first time being one strip prior when she was making pancakes - she answered Claire's 'phone for her while she was in bed, introduced herself to a complete stranger, and then deftly turned the introduction into a polite invitation to breakfast.

If you have 'phone anxiety about answering your own 'phone, surely there's no way you would volunteer to answer someone else's, let alone uninvited? Characters in QC tend to get squeezed into whatever plot-shaped hole needs filling, but I'm genuinely wondering if in this case Claire and Aurelia have been mixed up somehow?

[Rodin]

This is the second time we ever saw Aurelia, the first time being one strip prior when she was making pancakes - she answered Claire's 'phone for her while she was in bed, introduced herself to a complete stranger, and then deftly turned the introduction into a polite invitation to breakfast.

If you have 'phone anxiety about answering your own 'phone, surely there's no way you would volunteer to answer someone else's, let alone uninvited? Characters in QC tend to get squeezed into whatever plot-shaped hole needs filling, but I'm genuinely wondering if in this case Claire and Aurelia have been mixed up somehow?

I’m wondering this too. For reference, this strip is one that most makes me think this is Claire. Apologies for formatting, posting from my phne

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2976

[Yuki Akuma]

As someone who has severe phone anxiety, allow me to explain how this absolutely makes sense and isn't a retcon:

Phone calls I get out of the blue are fine. Phone calls I have to make or am expecting are torture. It's the expectation that gets me, not the event itself.

[Wraith]

As someone who has severe phone anxiety, allow me to explain how this absolutely makes sense and isn't a retcon:

Insofar as our irrational and poorly designed human brains can 'make sense', thank you for your perspective Yuki We are, however, back to the same point that we have made before - the comic has shown us one thing, and we're having to invent reasons as to why they no longer apply no matter how illogical, counter-intuitive (and therefore "realistic") they are.

If asked to use one word to describe early Aurelia, I would probably pick 'self-assured'. She's comfortable in her hobbies, in her sexuality, in sharing her weird hobbies with her kids, even in grabbing a baseball bat and stepping out into the dark to confront an unhinged AI prowling about in her garden at 2am... Everything that her kids haven't mastered. The benefits of middle age, of having been around the block a few times and having experience on your side.

And now here she is, freaking out over a 'phone call to her friend in direct opposite of what we've already seen so far. Something something 'fiction better than fact' something 'fiction has to make sense' something.

I'm not saying that characters can't be flawed or under certain circumstances make bad decisions. I'm just nostalgic for the days where Faye's alcoholism was built up over weeks and months with hints throughout, not just one day flipping a switch and having it outright stated in the comic's sub-title...

[Morquard]

I don't think the two situations are the same. She answered her daughter's phone. She knows her daughter.

She has been interacting with Marigold's online persona for ages, but now suddenly she gotta interact with the actual person behind that. As the actual person behind the MommyMilkers persona. This is a weird step in making it "real".

I'd be more willing to compare it to how easily she revealed all of it to Yay, than that phonecall.

[Delicious Taffy]

This one's just cute, IDK. I want them to hang out.

[tomandtish]

She has been interacting with Marigold's online persona for ages, but now suddenly she gotta interact with the actual person behind that. As the actual person behind the MommyMilkers persona. This is a weird step in making it "real".

Very much this. She's bringing someone she really only knows professionally (and virtually for that matter) into her personal space. Some concern is understandable.

[Wraith]

I don't think the two situations are the same. She answered her daughter's phone. She knows her daughter.

I have to admit, I have always thought of answering someone else's phone - especially without their express request to do so - to be a minor taboo. To my mind, it being Claire's 'phone would increase the anxiety if it were to do anything.

Very much this. She's bringing someone she really only knows professionally (and virtually for that matter) into her personal space. Some concern is understandable.

One wonders why they didn't just use discord or similar voicechat. It's familiar to them both and reminiscent of the streaming-environment that they're used to, maybe that would make them more comfortable?

I think "it's a business call so it has to be by 'phone" is mostly just a "how do you do, fellow children?" moment from Jeph - HE grew up using 'phones 'formally' and is just making things difficult for himself by assuming that other people, including perpetually-online younger ones like Marigold, would only see it the same way.

[Rodin]

I have to admit, I have always thought of answering someone else's phone - especially without their express request to do so - to be a minor taboo. To my mind, it being Claire's 'phone would increase the anxiety if it were to do anything.



One wonders why they didn't just use discord or similar voicechat. It's familiar to them both and reminiscent of the streaming-environment that they're used to, maybe that would make them more comfortable?

I think "it's a business call so it has to be by 'phone" is mostly just a "how do you do, fellow children?" moment from Jeph - HE grew up using 'phones 'formally' and is just making things difficult for himself by assuming that other people, including perpetually-online younger ones like Marigold, would only see it the same way.

Heck, I work in a call center and the primary way we are reached is via Teams calling. The phone number is a backup.

As someone with phone anxiety (yes, despite my job) touching anyone other than a family member's phone would be a major taboo and I probably wouldn't answer even a family member's phone unless I knew they were expecting a call. I would pick up the phone and try to bring it to them or let the phone ring through and go find them to say they missed a call. Answering the phone blindly ended when I ditched landlines.

[Daywalker1983]

I'm confused by today's comic. I assume that's supposed to be Claire's mother, since that's who is being discussed.

It doesn't look like her at all. In fact, it looks like Claire from a few years ago.

Just compare the characters from the last time we saw them with today's comic: https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4681

I've mostly given up complaining about the art, but this is just ridiculous.

Yeah, me too. I missed yesrerdays Comic and actually wondered why Claire Was streaming now too and why Marigold didnt recognize her.

[Vinyadan]

The little lines beneath the eyes look more like "I'm entering the abyss of anguish and madness" than "I'm somewhat older than the rest of the cast".

Actually, it reminds me of the first time Marten and Claire had sex, he also had those lines because he had been dealing with Faye's alcoholic breakdown.

[Ionathus]

At this point, expecting Jeph to draw people who are older than 30 as *actually* older than 30 is a lost cause. The number of times I've seen Marten's mom and thought "that's a 28-year-old with a skunk stripe" is uncountable.

Other than that, this arc is fun! I'm really, really enjoying the slice-of-life nature of this and Marigold's social awkwardness is very funny to me.

Anything to get a break from the latest Whatever Social Issue Jeph Wants To Explore But With Robots arc.

[Morquard]

I have to admit, I have always thought of answering someone else's phone - especially without their express request to do so - to be a minor taboo. To my mind, it being Claire's 'phone would increase the anxiety if it were to do anything.

One wonders why they didn't just use discord or similar voicechat. It's familiar to them both and reminiscent of the streaming-environment that they're used to, maybe that would make them more comfortable?

I think "it's a business call so it has to be by 'phone" is mostly just a "how do you do, fellow children?" moment from Jeph - HE grew up using 'phones 'formally' and is just making things difficult for himself by assuming that other people, including perpetually-online younger ones like Marigold, would only see it the same way.

Oh I agree with both parts. I wouldn't answer someone's phone - maybe my mom's if I see it's my brother or something, but that's it, and only because I know she's ok with it. I wouldn't be ok with her answering my phone. However maybe that is something those two had an unspoken or spoken rule about, and she's been doing it for years. Quite possible that during Claire's transition she had been "screening" phone calls for her daughter to make sure it was not some transphobic rant or something (with her permission of course).

And yes, I was wondering the same thing about "why not discord?"

[Willie the Duck]

I feel like, at this point, expecting Jeph to draw people who are older than 30 as *actually* older than 30 is a lost cause. The number of times I've seen Marten's mom and thought "that's a 28-year-old with a skunk stripe" is uncountable.

Aurelia is her daughter's sister, no argument, and that is jarring.

In the case of Veronica, Jim Bean, Henry, and Maurice, I think there is a caveat. I think these characters are specifically coded as being young-old, aging-gracefully, or whatever you want to call it. Aging is a little different than my parent or certainly my grandparents era (when whiskey and cigarettes were considered healthfood and sunscreen was for newborns and lifeguards). We have celebrities like Paul Rudd who could be mistaken for a 30-something but who is in actuality older than Errol Flynn when he died (looking like a wrinkled leather strap that had alternately been soaked in brine and left to weather on a brickyard parking lot). Exactly how you are supposed to represent that, especially in a comic strip, is a nontrivial task.

Marten's mom is a 'your mom is hot' type character (enough for it to be intimidating for Dora, bitd). Jim was supposed to be youthful enough of a parent that it wasn't too sketchy for him to date twenty-whoknows Dora that one time. Henry is supposed to be 50-something, and the one with actual full grey hair, but also coded as a hip gay nightclub owner. Maurice isn't given a clear age, but is a gold instructor as a side gig (so I don't know, active?). I think they are all supposed to me 'middle aged, but wearing it well.' Emmett's mom doesn't seem to be introduced as a similar type, and, in the few times we've seen her, looks a lot more 45-going-on-60.

[Willie the Duck]

New comic.
Okay, with Marigold this makes sense, but didn't Aurelia invite her daughter's suitor, whom Aurelia had never previously met, over for pancakes?

[Radar]

New comic.
Okay, with Marigold this makes sense, but didn't Aurelia invite her daughter's suitor, whom Aurelia had never previously met, over for pancakes?

Inviting a friend of your daughter and inviting a very famous internet celebrity might be somewhat different I guess.

[Traab]

New comic.
Okay, with Marigold this makes sense, but didn't Aurelia invite her daughter's suitor, whom Aurelia had never previously met, over for pancakes?

Its the change of venue. Think of it like this. You are at work and you chat and laugh with your work friends and everything is fine. Then one day you get invited to come over for a barbeque at their house. Suddenly the context of the friendship has changed, its DIFFERENT hanging out outside of work. I dont get anxiety on the level of these characters, but even I admit that id feel a bit anxious for the first visit. Its the same here. Internet anonymous friends are easy to chat with. Suddenly getting together irl? Thats a change and it brings up all sorts of things to worry about.

[Wraith]

Inviting a friend of your daughter and inviting a very famous internet celebrity might be somewhat different I guess.

Where does "Mid-crisis AI who has stalked you, trespassed on your property, and made weird references to your dog and your secret identity" fall on that scale, I wonder? She seemed okay with that.

I get it. It's - perhaps unconsciously - a power thing. Aurelia was okay with inviting Marten because he was her daughter's crush, another kid about whom she had second-hand knowledge of being 'a nice person'. She's Claire's mom and has authority over 'kids' inside her own house.

But Marigold is a stranger from the internet, and 'we live nearby to each other' isn't much of a reassurance that she isn't also a crazed axe-murderer. Similarly, Marigold is a richer, more popular, "more professional" streamer than Aurelia - it's intimidating to have someone who is potentially "better" (note the use of inverted commas to indicate a perception, rather than a reality) than you in your house, because you don't have the same sort of authority over them as your kid's boyfriend.

As for Marigold, she has even less to go on. She's a twenty-something introvert who just agreed to meet a stranger off the internet in the stranger's house, and the only other thing that she knows for certain is that MommyMilkers has some kind of interest in a weirdly fetishistic pastime. Not to kink-shame or anything, but if its the only thing you know for certain about someone, it could be interpreted as a red flag?
She could be going to meet Buffalo Bill with a voice-modulator, for all she knows. Her nervousness is entirely justified, even before Aurelia started claiming that she has minor mind-control abilities.

I'm making this up, but I don't think it's THAT much of a stretch. Aurelia invites people over that she's sure of or has someone who can vouch for them, and she doesn't yet have that of Marigold. Yay is a bit of an outlier, but let's say they LOOK like a kid and that athleisurewear is inherently non-threatening and I think it still works...

[Willie the Duck]

Inviting a friend of your daughter and inviting a very famous internet celebrity might be somewhat different I guess.

Its the change of venue. Think of it like this. You are at work and you chat and laugh with your work friends and everything is fine. Then one day you get invited to come over for a barbeque at their house. Suddenly the context of the friendship has changed, its DIFFERENT hanging out outside of work. I dont get anxiety on the level of these characters, but even I admit that id feel a bit anxious for the first visit. Its the same here. Internet anonymous friends are easy to chat with. Suddenly getting together irl? Thats a change and it brings up all sorts of things to worry about.

Looks like it is a bit of both. Half 'Oprah* is stopping by for tea,' and half, 'Johnson and Anderson from work are swinging by, and will find out my work persona is all a façade.' Seems like this is actually pretty on-brand -- When she became an empty-nester, Aurelia kinda-sorta slid into being 'awesome**' without realizing it. Also on brand that Clinton does recognize this (as it frustrated him in earlier plots), and kinda personal growth on his part that this he just calmly explains to her the thing in her blindspot.
*This is the closest I can get to a modern reference. Do universally-known celebrities even exist anymore?
**This is the sober guy who manages young adults talking, but blazing up and hooking up with significantly younger people isn't my idea of awesome, but I recognize that that's what Jeph is coding this as.

[Traab]

At least clinton has personal experience dealing with this as he went from creepy semi stalker boy to oddly cool and attractive looking after his whole thing with emily.

[Cikomyr2]

Its these kind of moments when

- i saw it coming
- im fine with it anyway

[MoonCat]

Honestly, I quite like this set-up where they converge on one another at the coffee shop. I'm expecting they'll give each other some comforting advice before the dramatic irony is resolved.

[Delicious Taffy]

This ain't gonna work like on TV. It's too obvious. That machine is not gonna be sufficient.

[Squire Doodad]

As the actual person behind the MommyMilkers persona. This is a weird step in making it "real".

I would like to take a second and point out that you have said this sentence without a whit of irony and it is vaguely amusing

That said, while I am not following this comic, Aurelia does look like "Claire in 4 years and/or with a recent panic attack" as opposed to "middle aged woman with a college graduate child".

[Delicious Taffy]

Yeah, I figured the mean bean machine couldn't stop this inevitability.

[Wraith]

So... Claire's job is just to stand at the till, take orders, and shout them down the line to Hannelore/Dora? She doesn't even make the drink herself? It's not like tea should be beyond even a complete newbie. Hopefully.

And this is after spending X amount of time fiddle-farting around with her 'phone offscreen while 'at work'? I know it was stressed that Dorsa wasn't doing Marten a favour by giving his girlfriend a non-job out of pity, but WOW I wish my time working retail were even half that laid-back!

[Delicious Taffy]

Sometimes it's not super busy at a place. Even coffee shops.

[Yuki Akuma]

So... Claire's job is just to stand at the till, take orders, and shout them down the line to Hannelore/Dora? She doesn't even make the drink herself? It's not like tea should be beyond even a complete newbie. Hopefully.

And this is after spending X amount of time fiddle-farting around with her 'phone offscreen while 'at work'? I know it was stressed that Dorsa wasn't doing Marten a favour by giving his girlfriend a non-job out of pity, but WOW I wish my time working retail were even half that laid-back!

This is in fact how it works when a coffee shop has two people working behind the counter and it's not super busy. You've never worked in one, I'm guessing?

In an hour or two they'll switch places so it's Hannelore taking the orders and Claire making them. Or possibly one of them will be cleaning up while the other handles the entire ordering process.

I presume Hannelore does most of the cleaning since she's really good at it.