Questionable Content XIX: Give Jeph Just A *Little* Credit, Here

[Ionathus]

It’s so weird how we got to this latest scene. I feel like anybody’s dialogue personality here (sans Moray) could be swapped with anyone else’s and make just as much sense.

Also Moray actually simulating physical objects is…weird. I dunno, man. Just weird vibes from this one.

[Wraith]

I've said this before and I'll continue to say it; Weed culture is the single most boring culture ever created. I'm not in any way anti-recreational-drugs, but Jesus H. Christ do I now want to hear about it and the wacky (read: annoying) things that happen.

Something-something-Why is Liz' head twice as big as it was in the previous comic again-something

"But here? People will just assume this is what librarians do."

Your boss is Tai. Is that really what you want for Claire? Is it? Is it!?!

[Traab]

Her head is bigger because jeph loves goblin girl drawing.

[Wraith]

Her head is bigger because jeph loves goblin girl drawing.

Thank Christ for that, I thought it might be because she was getting closer...

[Traab]

Thank Christ for that, I thought it might be because she was getting closer...

/creepy voice "Check my location!"

[Vinyadan]

Get a very young shut-in out, give her alcohol on an empty stomach until she pukes, then give her her first taste of weed. Fear and Loathing in AI Island?

[Cikomyr2]

Her head is bigger because jeph loves goblin girl drawing.

What does "goblin girl" means?

Like, I feel I should kind of figure it out, but I want to make sure it's not something specific.

[Wraith]

"Goblin" in this context means to be someone who gives in to their worst impulses for their own comfort or convenience, and the art changes to make them look more feral in order to reflect that.

Marigold does it sometimes - whenever she's trying to find a way to be more lazy, or delegating any of her responsibilities so that she doesn't have to bother, she gets "goblin eyes" indicating her attitude.

It was funny at first because it was subtle, and Marigold had a history of being a slob so her temptation to fall back into her old ways was an actual arc, of sorts. The joke then got hammered into the ground, appearing repeatedly in quick succession, and now Liz is just a freakish cartoon, scuttling about the place and basically being Gollum with a ponytail.

This is opposed to actual "Goblin Girl" art, which belong to the same niche of pornography as naked slime girls.

[Vinyadan]

Anyway, what if it's all a critique to colonialism and the white saviour narrative? After gaining a place of power, being hailed as near gods, and offering many promises, the white men immediately start corrupting the natives lifestyle through booze and drugs.

[Cikomyr2]

"Goblin" in this context means to be someone who gives in to their worst impulses for their own comfort or convenience, and the art changes to make them look more feral in order to reflect that.

Marigold does it sometimes - whenever she's trying to find a way to be more lazy, or delegating any of her responsibilities so that she doesn't have to bother, she gets "goblin eyes" indicating her attitude.

It was funny at first because it was subtle, and Marigold had a history of being a slob so her temptation to fall back into her old ways was an actual arc, of sorts. The joke then got hammered into the ground, appearing repeatedly in quick succession, and now Liz is just a freakish cartoon, scuttling about the place and basically being Gollum with a ponytail.

This is opposed to actual "Goblin Girl" art, which belong to the same niche of pornography as naked slime girls.

ah. It's a tell? Basically a shorthand in his art form/comics in general?

I keep coming back to Liz's problem is that she basically missed standard social interaction in her childhood. Rushing her toward academic achievement deprived her of much needed social interaction with her peers, and now she is fundamentally unable to relate to most other people except on second hand information.

[Wraith]

ah. It's a tell? Basically a shorthand in his art form/comics in general?

I've seen it elsewhere - Twitter, Reddit, screenshots of Tumblr. Someone is trying to make it 'a thing', almost like assigning a cute name to a type of lifestyle to make it relatable.

I don't think it's really caught on IRL, as it bears a striking similarity to a depressive spiral with extra steps, but Jeph has definitely made it a thing that happens in QC. The prospect of staying in bed until noon actually mutates people into slit-pupilled monsters.

[Vinyadan]

Oxford made "Goblin mode" the word of the year for 2022 -- although it doesn't look like a word to me, more like an expression.

https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2022/

[otakuryoga]

at first i was like "WTF? did momo get some huge gazongas for some reason?"
but it was just the way they tried to show the shirt draping down

[Beelzebub1111]

I think Jeph is seriously overestimating how much money you can make streaming (without your daddy owning a successful media network)

[Shadow of the Sun]

I think Jeph is seriously overestimating how much money you can make streaming (without your daddy owning a successful media network)

The other cast herd is currently smoking weed out of a sentient slime girl robot, on a rig off the coast of Canada that's full of robots, and is run by a super intelligent giant jellyfish robot.

...and this is what breaks your suspension of disbelief?

[Wraith]

at first i was like "WTF? did momo get some huge gazongas for some reason?"
but it was just the way they tried to show the shirt draping down

About a week ago, Jeph made a joke about having learned to draw hanging fabric after 17 years as a professional artist.

On reflection, I have doubts that was a 'joke', hence why he's found a way to show up his new 'thing' as gratuitously as possible, even before mentioning that Momo has a new chassis at all.

...and this is what breaks your suspension of disbelief?

In fairness, it very much broke our disbelief about 14 months ago when it was first explained that Marigold - shy, naive, antisocial Marigold - had become the single most subscribed streamer in the history of streaming, and doing it by playing niche porno games about BDSM Maids or something. I think at one point we estimated that she makes more money than Twitch's actual top 2 streamers combined. This is just the reaction to that it not only happened, but has been sustained for over 6 months in-comic time.

[Willie the Duck]

I think Jeph is seriously overestimating how much money you can make streaming (without your daddy owning a successful media network)

Long story short*: we most-all think Jeph got 'followers' and 'subscribers' confused when the streaming plotlines started and had Aurelia reference that her friend BurgerOni (who we knew was Marigold) had an unprecedented number of paying subscribers. Instead of edit it, he decided to go with it, regardless of the realism.
*and sorry if you were here for this and the recap is unnecessary.

About a week ago, Jeph made a joke about having learned to draw hanging fabric after 17 years as a professional artist.

On reflection, I have doubts that was a 'joke', hence why he's found a way to show up his new 'thing' as gratuitously as possible, even before mentioning that Momo has a new chassis at all.

What is gratuitous about Momo doing yoga in a yoga outfit? May still walking around in just a sports bra, yeah that's gratuitous (albeit absolutely in-character).

Regarding Marigold's new house: it looks like it is big, but not other typical-extravagance-coding (having white and beige tiled floors and painted kitchen cabinets, not Oriental rugs and animal heads on walls and gold-covered everything). I have a couple employees and a coworker who bought micro-McMansions out in the exurbs that resemble this. That great big (tall-ceiling) entryway apparently just sucks up heating/AC dollars, but ends up not actually doing anything. Gotta say, I envy their kitchen sizes, though.

[Traab]

Long story short*: we most-all think Jeph got 'followers' and 'subscribers' confused when the streaming plotlines started and had Aurelia reference that her friend BurgerOni (who we knew was Marigold) had an unprecedented number of paying subscribers. Instead of edit it, he decided to go with it, regardless of the realism.
*and sorry if you were here for this and the recap is unnecessary.



What is gratuitous about Momo doing yoga in a yoga outfit? May still walking around in just a sports bra, yeah that's gratuitous (albeit absolutely in-character).

Regarding Marigold's new house: it looks like it is big, but not other typical-extravagance-coding (having white and beige tiled floors and painted kitchen cabinets, not Oriental rugs and animal heads on walls and gold-covered everything). I have a couple employees and a coworker who bought micro-McMansions out in the exurbs that resemble this. That great big (tall-ceiling) entryway apparently just sucks up heating/AC dollars, but ends up not actually doing anything. Gotta say, I envy their kitchen sizes, though.

I do wonder how many bedrooms it has to go with the three gaming rooms and workout studio. But yeah, I kinda find it eye rolling to basically have this time skip where they went from "Hey im wealthy now, maybe I should do something" to "Ok, im in my mcmansion with my people and have been for some time now."

[tyckspoon]

I do wonder how many bedrooms it has to go with the three gaming rooms and workout studio. But yeah, I kinda find it eye rolling to basically have this time skip where they went from "Hey im wealthy now, maybe I should do something" to "Ok, im in my mcmansion with my people and have been for some time now."

I would assume at least some of the 'gaming rooms' and other spaces in the house are officially 'bedrooms' that have been repurposed - the distinction is more or less "does it have a closet", and having attached storage space is helpful for a lot of other uses of a room.

[Rodin]

What is gratuitous about Momo doing yoga in a yoga outfit? May still walking around in just a sports bra, yeah that's gratuitous (albeit absolutely in-character).

Momo in her second body was always very conservatively dressed. I don't think we ever saw her in clothes that were even slightly revealing. At the lake party she wore an extremely covering one piece suit that was almost like a scuba outfit.

In other words, Momo after her body swap was never even remotely sexualized. Which is pretty much what you'd expect from her character, eel gags aside she's very prim and proper person.

Now we've jumped with no warning to her having changed her body for no stated reason. The very first shot of her she's showing more skin than she has ever displayed, in a pose that accentuates her long bare legs and highlights the skintight minishorts she's wearing. The next shot is a closeup of her holding her arm behind her back to display her armpit in a way that can definitely be taken as provocative. We also get a close up of her midriff which also happens to show off how low her shorts are on her hips, and the cloth drapes in a very sexy way.

"Gratuitous" is the only word that fits. If anything, it's an understatement. I was shocked and disheartened by today's strip more than any of the Moray stuff did.

----

On the topic of what's actually happening....yech. Yet another massive plot jump. No house hunting plot. No drama of Marigold and Dale having different ideas about where they want to live. No drama of trying to find somewhere convenient (as Marigold is another non-driver as far as I'm aware, even if Dale can). Momo changes bodies without any explanation, off-screen.

All in all, I'd say Marigold and Friends are short by at least 500 strips of story. Story that would have been far more interesting than Cubetown, containing characters I actually like.

[Beelzebub1111]

The other cast herd is currently smoking weed out of a sentient slime girl robot, on a rig off the coast of Canada that's full of robots, and is run by a super intelligent giant jellyfish robot.

...and this is what breaks your suspension of disbelief?

Science fiction elements don't affect the verisimilitude of a science fiction story. However, real-world elements in a story contradicting what we know to be true can. Sorry, but this argument is a pet peeve of mine. The whole attitude enables lazy writing.

"Who cares about the how the hyperdrive works in your movie about space wizards intended for children? Oh, this character learned how to pilot a ship while being in a coma between movies? you're nitpicking. Why do you care if a child can survive three days in a pterodactyl's gizzard? It's a cool action scene"

[Wraith]

"Gratuitous" is the only word that fits. If anything, it's an understatement. I was shocked and disheartened by today's strip more than any of the Moray stuff did.

I'd like to make it clear that I wasn't trying to come across as judgemental of Momo for her choice of clothing, I'm certainly not in any position to be judging anyone by their choice of attire or anything of the sort, not me sat here in my 15-year-old shirt with (as I have just noticed) a cigarette burn under the collar. And I don't even smoke.

It just struck me as weird on two levels. One is, as Rodin explained, that it is quite out of character for Momo to go bra-less and in a top that shows her being what I should probably not describe as 'perky'. It's also relatively rare for anyone to be depicted in full - the comic is so often panel after panel of talking heads that its notable to see someone's knees, and yet her we are twice in one comic, both May and her incredible inflating bust (seriously, its even bigger than the last time we saw her) and Momo flexing gracefully. The focus is immediately on their bodies, rather than the revelation of their surroundings or the reveal of Momo's metamorphosis.

It's also slightly weird to see an AI who is NOT wearing sprayed-on athleisurewear, despite it being entirely appropriate for the first time

On the topic of what's actually happening....yech. Yet another massive plot jump. No house hunting plot. No drama of Marigold and Dale having different ideas about where they want to live. No drama of trying to find somewhere convenient (as Marigold is another non-driver as far as I'm aware, even if Dale can). Momo changes bodies without any explanation, off-screen.

All in all, I'd say Marigold and Friends are short by at least 500 strips of story. Story that would have been far more interesting than Cubetown, containing characters I actually like.

Don't forget, Marigold stating that she needed a house was pretty much the last thing we saw before the 6-month timeskip that preceded Claire's job interview. Quite literally - it goes from Marigold and Dale talking about buying a house, immediately into Clinton going "Wow that meme from the stream which happened months ago is still trending".

Not only did Jeph skip the plot of Marigold, Dale, Momo and May house-hunting, but he did so in favour of introducing Moray and Cubetown! Aren't we lucky?

[Rodin]

Don't forget, Marigold stating that she needed a house was pretty much the last thing we saw before the 6-month timeskip that preceded Claire's job interview. Quite literally - it goes from Marigold and Dale talking about buying a house, immediately into Clinton going "Wow that meme from the stream which happened months ago is still trending".

Not only did Jeph skip the plot of Marigold, Dale, Momo and May house-hunting, but he did so in favour of introducing Moray and Cubetown! Aren't we lucky?

That does explain a little bit at least. I forgot that we had a time skip (checks watch) 9 months ago before we spent 2-3 days in-comic time covering Cubetown. May having moved into her house during that time is not unreasonable. I thought we had just gotten another timeskip here.

It still raises the question of why a timeskip was necessary, or what benefit the timeskip had other than "Jeph doesn't feel like writing about the type of story that made his comic popular".

[Vinyadan]

I think it would be interesting if Tall Momo actually turned out to be Winslow in a new body. Or someone not-Momo, anyway.

I don't find the poses provocative; if anything, the loose draping hides the boobs and the outer profile of the ribcage in panel 3, and panel 4 has raised arms, but the chest is bent forward and doesn't rise with them.

I agree that it's an odd moment for Momo, when compared to her earlier characterisation. I also think that that might be the wrong kind of loose garment to do sports with.

[Traab]

All this being said, maybe we are getting to see marigold and company turning into greedy snob types. Now too be fair, Boobazon to call marigold meal ticket isnt out of previous character but there is just something about this, from tall momo to the kinda pretentious "Oh yes, the THIRD game room! I forgot about that one as we have so many" /snob laugh im hoping for some sort of drama to unfold. Maybe marigold is both obsessed with work and looking down on the rest because she IS their "meal ticket" or dale feels kinda cringey over being a kept man as this is all paid for by her job (despite him normally working three) I dunno, SOMETHING.

[Ionathus]

"Jeph doesn't feel like writing about the type of story that made his comic popular".

That's it in a nutshell, honestly.

Jeph has moved on, and started writing a different webcomic, but he didn't want to make a clean break with the characters so they're coming along for the ride, even if their previous personalities or circumstances have to squeeze to fit.

[Mechalich]

That's it in a nutshell, honestly.

Jeph has moved on, and started writing a different webcomic, but he didn't want to make a clean break with the characters so they're coming along for the ride, even if their previous personalities or circumstances have to squeeze to fit.

Indeed, and I'd extend that to prioritizing distinctly inferior new-style plotlines over old-style plotlines that make perfect sense. 'Marigold and crew go house-hunting' is a potentially great QC plotline. Skipping over it is a massive missed opportunity.

[Beelzebub1111]

Well, sorry this version of tetris doesn't take up 100 gigs of hard drive space. One Game at a time per machine, sorry those are the rules we apparently decided. What's compression?

[Gnoman]

Three gaming rooms (one of which is just a corner of the basement, according to today's strip) is a pretty reasonable thing for a professional streamer to have. Either for reasons of work-life balance (you have one you do streaming from, one for your own personal entertainment), or for professional ones (having different setups to accommodate different things).

All we've really seen of the place is a foyer, a very reasonably sized kitchen, a basement, and what looks to be a living room with a large TV. Nothing we've seen so far prevents it from just being a rather nice two-story three bedroom house where two of the bedrooms have been filled with computer gaming equipment.

[Wraith]

Entirely true. This could just be a normal house that happens to have an enormous empty space in it - this would make it pretty much just like Aurelia or Emmett's house, which have appeared bare and empty in their backgrounds. Or even the bar in Cubetown that didn't have any pictures or anything on the walls to aid perspective, making it look slightly cavernous.

I put it to you that it probably isn't the case because, were it a 3-bedroom house with 2 combined gaming rooms, that would imply that of the 3 beds needed (Marigold/Dale, Momo, and May), at least 2 of them would be sleeping in a combined bedroom/gaming room. I don't see either Momo or May putting up with that, and it would be very impractical to have a gaming room - where Marigold works - also be (for example) May's bedroom.

I honestly think it's 'third gaming room' because there are 3 specific gaming rooms. The implication is 3 bedrooms, 3 gaming rooms, 1 yoga/living room, 1 kitchen, and at least 1 bathroom - maybe two because although AI probably don't need them that much, 3-bedroom houses tend to have an ensuite and AI needing accommodation is a comparatively recent phenomenon.

Is that reasonable? Sure - three beds needs three bedrooms, then a 'gaming room' instead of an office and/or dining room, and a basement with a fancy name. Maybe the room where Momo was going yoga is a gaming room - seems a perfectly sensible use for an 80" TV screen, and explains why May went looking for Margold and ended up there.

Still... I would have liked to see Marigold, Dale, May and Momo having this conversation, and have relatable millennial-esque arguments about what constitutes a 'gaming room' (or even 'a room') and challenge each other to Mario Kart in order to determine who gets the big bedroom, or something. Anything apart from "everyone has a house now, carry on", y'know?