Margo's Got Money Troubles

Margo wants to keep creating more content for OnlyFans, and Jinx helps her sort out her insurance, taxes, and finances. He creates an account on the platform as well, so he can explore, learn, and help Margo. He suggests that she must create a persona that the audience can fall in love with.

Initially, the money rolls in, but after a few weeks, Margo begins to lose subscribers because she does not post pictures of her vagina. Margo then gets a message from a fan with the username “JB,” asking if she does any written work other than penis ratings. His profile picture is of a dog that he reveals is named “Jelly Bean.”

JB offers Margo $100 to write about her family traditions, asserting that he finds it attractive to think about her as a real person. Margo makes up a detailed but fake narrative based on her friend Becca’s family. As soon as she sends it across, she receives the money, with another request for a description about her mother. Once again, Margo writes a piece based on Becca’s life, and she enjoys writing it.

Margo spends Thanksgiving with Jinx and Suzie as Shyanne and Kenny are busy. She receives messages from JB with a new set of questions worth $100 each; he also sends a picture of the dog Jelly Bean wearing a costume. Margo requests a selfie of JB with the dog, and she is stunned to discover that JB is an extremely attractive man in his late twenties.

Jinx suddenly hurts his back, and Margo rushes him to the hospital in an ambulance while Suzie watches Bodhi. Jinx asks if it is okay if he doesn’t mention his history of substance abuse, as doctors treat him differently when he mentions it. Margo understands, remembering how the nurses treated her coldly when Bodhi was born because she was young and unmarried. They wouldn’t tend to her needs or answer her questions properly.

The doctor asks Jinx questions about his current and past injuries, including the surgery Jinx had years ago, when Margo was born. The doctor asks repeated and pointed questions about pain medication, despite Jinx not mentioning his history of substance abuse. At this, Jinx insists that Margo return home to Bodhi.

Margo wakes up to discover that Jinx is back home; he says he was released from the hospital at four o’clock that morning. Despite still being in pain, Jinx hasn’t filled out the prescription for his pain medication or muscle relaxants. He confesses that he is scared he will relapse, and Margo offers to hide the medication in her room and hand him the pills only when he needs them.

Margo, Suzie, and Jinx watch wrestling, and Suzie wonders aloud how much of it is real. Jinx explains the line is blurry. The fights are choreographed, but they have to have some authenticity for them to be appealing. Each wrestler’s persona has to have some of their actual traits mixed in. While listening to this conversation, Margo realizes that in the context of OnlyFans, she doesn’t need to invent a new persona; rather, she needs to turn herself into a caricature. As she thinks deeply about how she can distinguish herself from other creators, she realizes she needs co-creators or “buddies” on the platform.

Margo tracks down WangMangler and another creator on OnlyFans with the username “SucculentRose”—the two of them sometimes do podcasts together. Margo discovers that both of them are also in Southern California, just like her. She reaches out to WangMangler, asking if she can be on the podcast sometime. WangMangler and SucculentRose, who are roommates, invite her over the next day, as their scheduled guest unexpectedly canceled.

Margo answers one of JB’s questions about her favorite foods, and without realizing it, she writes the truth. She asks him about his favorite foods, too. JB writes back, and Margo finds his response endearing. She insists that he must now answer a question for every question she answers—she says she will consider his answer to be extra payment. She also asks him about his real name, and JB reveals it is Jae Beom. However, Margo avoids giving her own. JB says he has been chatting with only her on OnlyFans—no one else. He says he created an account because he was curious about the platform, and he found that talking to Margo was more interesting than anything else on the platform.

Margo goes over to SucculentRose and WangMangler’s house. SucculentRose warmly welcomes her, and she introduces herself simply as Rose. She instructs Margo to call WangMangler KC, and Margo herself adopts “Ghost” as her moniker.

In the recording studio, Margo panics when she discovers that she has to consume psychedelic mushrooms as part of the podcast; she ultimately acquiesces. The three of them discuss how they each began creating content for OnlyFans; they also admit that despite being on the platform for so long, negative comments still affect them negatively.

Margo presents her plan for the three of them to become rich and famous together: She suggests they make TikToks together and create personas that can help people discover their OnlyFans accounts. KC is skeptical, but Rose is willing to try it out. Margo also tells them she has a four-month-old baby, so they will have to work around Bodhi and Jinx’s schedule since Jinx helps out with babysitting. KC especially is in awe when she discovers Margo’s father is “Dr. Jinx,” a celebrity in the professional wrestling world, and she is thrilled to meet him when he comes to pick up Margo.

When Margo goes home, she is still intoxicated from the mushrooms. She guiltily feeds a disgruntled Bodhi formula for the next 24 hours while the mushrooms leave her system. The next morning, she deletes everything on her OnlyFans account and writes a new description; she then begins working on scripts and content for her, Rose, and KC to shoot and post. Jinx is torn about whether this is a brilliant or terrible idea, but he insists that Margo must tell Shyanne about it before Shyanne finds out about it elsewhere. He reasserts that what Margo is doing is not something to be ashamed or secretive about.

Margo accompanies Shyanne when she goes shopping for her wedding dress, and she finally tells her about her OnlyFans account. Shyanne is shocked, horrified, and disappointed, claiming that Margo has ruined her life. She cries when she asserts that she has raised Margo to be better than this. Margo thinks back to all the times Shyanne has given her advice about men and how they look at women, including saying, “Beauty is like free money” (141). Shyanne asks Margo to leave, insisting that she will complete the wedding shopping on her own.

That night, Margo answers one of JB’s questions, trying to overcome the sadness of the day. JB writes back with a description of his own mother, which Margo finds charming. She reflects on how, under different circumstances, she could also write about Shyanne and present her as likable; people can be presented in different ways. Margo can see both sides even about herself: She can either be described as “hometown girl makes good, defies capitalist patriarchy,” or she can be seen as a “teen whore [who] sells nudes while nursing, too lazy to work” (146).

Shyanne calls the next morning and apologizes for being harsh, but she tells Margo to shut down her OnlyFans account. Margo says she will, but she privately decides to only do so after seeing how it fares for three months.

Margo does her Christmas shopping and also buys an expensive ticket to Vegas for Shyanne and Kenny’s January wedding. She spends the weeks leading up to the holidays filming nonstop with KC and Rose, but she still finds time to keep writing to JB. She learns that he is a machine learning engineer in DC, and she excitedly tells him about the videos she has planned.

The day before Christmas, Margo receives a courier with a restraining order from Mark for Jinx, as well as a petition to file for sole custody of Bodhi. Margo is shocked, especially when Jinx reveals that he called and yelled at Mark and even physically threatened him. Jinx couldn’t stop thinking about how Mark was her teacher and made her sign the NDA, and he wanted to stand up for his daughter. Jinx reassures her, saying that he will help her find a lawyer after Christmas.

On Shyanne’s request, Margo spends Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with her and Kenny. She attends a Christmas Eve service at the same church where Kenny is a youth minister. The pastor talks about Joseph’s benevolence in accepting a pregnant Mary before they were wed, even though he didn’t actually believe she was pregnant with God’s child. Margo looks up how old Mary was when she was betrothed to Joseph. When she learns Mary was just between 12 and 14 years old, Margo concludes that Mary was probably raped. As the congregation sings together at the end of the service, Margo thinks about how all the congregants are probably pleasant people, but they would all hate her and believe she was evil if they knew about her OnlyFans account.