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A champion waiting a beleiver to make her want to compete and win

A noble pacifist trying to help those who are hurt, even by their own will

A sufferer of robotic PTSD who has opted out of society, preferring to do what good she can in the shadows

A hypocrite who claims high standards but takes money from Corpse Witch because it's there

A lost soul who needs a friend and a purpose

An undercover FBI robot looking to expose and sink Corpse Witch's operation

Other (explain in comment)

[BenRG]

A serious poll this week, I think. Bubbles is such a fascinating character and I'm really interested to see what fellow readers and fans think of her.

All of the options that I gave in the poll are plausible in my view, which makes voting in my own poll so very, very difficult. After a little thought, I'm going for her being someone who needs a friend and a purpose. I think, like many people, she's sort of cruising on auto-pilot, taking whatever obvious jobs appear and simply surviving. Finding something that she actually wants to do and a goal towards which to strive is something that has just escaped her since her demobilisation.

I wonder if Faye or one of Faye's friends/associates may inadvertently lead her onto that path?

[chaospersonified]

I think robo-PTSD is likely the thing. Not exactly the same as human PTSD because not a problem with processing, but a similar thing. There's definitely something going on for a military robot to turn into a pacifist.

[Zebediah]

The PTSD and Lost Soul options aren't mutually exclusive. I'm going with both of them.

[Kugai]

An ex Military Combat AI/AnthroPC whose become a pacifist

[osaka]

I'm going with "Other". She basically Ronda Rousey'd the competition, got bored, and once she took a step back she didn't like what she saw.

[jheartney]

Bubbles is not a happy being; I don't think we've seen her smile, and we probably won't. I sense a past epiphany concerning violence, combined with a present she did not chose and would do without if she could. Bubbles probably would never be allowed to be a human companion (and might not care to be one even if she could), and perhaps working in an illegal establishment means she can never again be part of legitimate anthroPC society. She could well be a tragic figure. Like May, she's quite disenchanted with her lot in life, but unlike May, she's courtly and dignified.

I'm wondering if the denizens of this AI Fight Club ever go to May and Momo's support group.Would they be welcome if they did? The support group would probably require that all illegitimate behavior stop before a member could join.

[Method of Madness]

I definitely hope we learn more about her.

[Method of Madness]

Comic's up! I like how Tai telling Dora she loved her for the first time totally mirrors Dora telling Marten she loved him for the first time.

[Tova]

Are we going to get this kind of fuss every single time the words "I love you" are uttered for the first time in a relationship? Is everyone in this comic wandering around oblivious to their partner's emotions? 

[94ssd]

Comic's up! I like how Tai telling Dora she loved her for the first time totally mirrors Dora telling Marten she loved him for the first time.

Does it? I'm not sure how I feel about that then. How many strips did Dora/Marten last?

[Zebediah]

Well, Tai's really gone and put her foot in it this time, hasn't she?

[Near Lurker]

...I swear sometimes it's like Dora somehow wandered into webcomicdom straight from a 90s sitcom.

[improvnerd]

Are we going to get this kind of fuss every single time the words "I love you" are uttered for the first time in a relationship? Is everyone in this comic wandering around oblivious to their partner's emotions? 

It's not the feelings, it's the declaration of them. That means a lot to some people.

[Method of Madness]

Comic's up! I like how Tai telling Dora she loved her for the first time totally mirrors Dora telling Marten she loved him for the first time.

Does it? I'm not sure how I feel about that then. How many strips did Dora/Marten last?

About 1300 I think.

Well, Tai's really gone and put her foot in it this time, hasn't she?

No? Not even a little.

[wlewisiii]

That line of Tai's in frame 2 is really bad juju for that relationship. It's good she can say it, but I'm not sure how long they can survive if she has to...

[chaospersonified]

Dora/Tai progression with possible leads towards Dora reforming fraternal bonds! Considering I feel the issue that led to such bonds being severed was bullshit, I'm in favor of this happening! Woo!

Oh, also love. That's a happy as well.

[Method of Madness]

If Dora doesn't respond with a quick "that's so sweet, I love you too" next comic, I'll be pretty annoyed.

[chaospersonified]

If Dora doesn't respond with a quick "that's so sweet, I love you too" next comic, I'll be pretty annoyed.

I hope so, but I feel that even if it happens, that'll be panel one, quickly turning, and that the bulk of tomorrow might be a defense of cutting Sven out. Dora doesn't like it being suggested she's wrong.

[Tova]

Are we going to get this kind of fuss every single time the words "I love you" are uttered for the first time in a relationship? Is everyone in this comic wandering around oblivious to their partner's emotions? 

It's not the feelings, it's the declaration of them. That means a lot to some people.

Yes, that's fair enough. And if this were the only occurance, I wouldn't even raise an eyebrow. My comment was provoked by the impression I got that this is a rite of passage for every relationship in the comic, rather than something that happens only to "some people."

[Method of Madness]

Yeah, but it's not like it wasn't ridiculously obvious that Tai's loved Dora for years.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

A: I LOL'd
B: While it would be nice to have more rainbow farts and unicorns, I'm okay with Dora not having this figured out yet. She was the one with the love jones with Marten. It's symmetrical (with the old days when the "they look alike" thing was running fan gag) for her to be in the other seat.
C: Tai was doing the "I'm not trying to say anything racist" preamble. AKA the "No offense, but [something offensive]." Not to say she was being a bad human. Often being bluntly critical is rude as fuck. She was trying to speak her disagreement without being hurtful. She got so caught up in the reassurance, she didn't filter the content.

But that, and her final panel spit-take, suggests this is something she has been filtering, either unconsciously, or with intent. Early character statements aside, Dora is Tai's first steady in a long while. I'm pretty sure she isn't ready for this. And I don't mean in the idealized "ready for a relationship" manner. Just ready to have this conversation.

Dora certainly cares about Tai. It would be neat if Dora loves Tai. It's interesting, to me, that Dora, the control freak with the perfectionism streak, took a direct criticism and the most important thing she got from it was "I love you." That's either a very healthy sign or a very unhealthy one.

Which one it is can only be decided...

IN THUNDERDOME

[electromgneticDstroyosaur]

Yeah, but it's not like it wasn't ridiculously obvious that Tai's loved Dora for years.

Comic time is slow, though.

[Method of Madness]

Even in comic time, pretty much since she met her.

[Deadcoder]

I like what Tai did there. She hid a grenade going off by setting off a nuke.

[Carl-E]

Exactly.  Dora's focused on the declaration rather than the argument containing it. 

I'm wondering if Tai's reaction is to Dora's focused comment, or to the reaction she was expecting to the rest of her statement...

[Omega Entity]

Yeah, but it's not like it wasn't ridiculously obvious that Tai's loved Dora for years.

Comic time is slow, though.

Even in comic time, pretty much since she met her.

Honestly, I got the impression that it was very much physical attraction ("oh my god Marten I wanna bang your girlfriend!" attraction) initially - it read more as lust than love, to me. She didn't seem to start mooning over her until towards the end of Marten and Dora's relationship at earliest, if my memory serves (which it admittedly doesn't, sometimes).

[Stanistani]

Well, Tai has launched what is either a torpedo or a Cupid's arrow into their relationship.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

Yes. Tai had the hots for Dora.

She didn't really start with the infatuation until after Marten and Dora broke up. Even then, it wasn't love. It was infatuation.

Tai's "strongly positive impression," if you will, of Dora is hugely evident around the time Dora sets the date with Jim, but even then, it's not really "love."

I love pizza. You could say Tai's loved Dora in those terms forever, but the kind of "I love you" Dora is talking about is something different, and possibly new. It may be news to Tai. It's even possible she didn't mean it that way (unlikely, but possible. A slim possibility. Very thin. Anorexic).

Certainly, though, Tai's been really into Dora in one way or another since they met.

[BenRG]

Well, that was a lovely, heartwarming moment. I've long thought that Tai and Dora were in love and, more importantly, Tai is more aware of Dora's flaws than some gave her credit.

Jeph did an A+++ job with the artwork today. Tai's body language and the effort he put into the kiss were both nice touches that well communicated the principals' feelings. Particularly, Tai trying to do 'serious' and the way she gets the warm fuzzies from Dora's kisses. The last panel was the 'LOL' one, of course. It's obvious that Tai has been filtering out the 'L' word. Remember that she went through college on casual sex-based non-relationships and it is possible that she's afraid of going into deeper emotional commitment.

Tomorrow should be interesting in terms of how Dora reacts to this inadvertent declaration. She wouldn't be Dora if she didn't have some sense of inadequacy or fear (and poor Marten is probably going to be roped in as arbitrator again). However, I do think that these were words that Dora was ready to hear.

Naturally, the point of what Tai was saying - That Dora has issues to confront of which her relationship with Sven are actually a symptom - is going to be forgotten.

P.S.

That line of Tai's in frame 2 is really bad juju for that relationship. It's good she can say it, but I'm not sure how long they can survive if she has to...

Yeah, that's not automatically very good, is it? Credit where credit's due, Tai didn't try to tap-dance around it and Dora is realistic enough to say outright that she knew she had a problem and she'll hold her reaction in check because she wanted to hear Tai's views on this matter.

It's a rare person who solves their problems like those Dora suffers. The most that most of us can hope for is to get a handle on them so they don't periodically ruin their lives and Dora at least seems to be trying to go in that direction.

[osaka]

Frame 1 tomorrow: "And even so you STILL missed the whole point of my declaration "

[FunkyTuba]

Completely different topic:
I wonder how much May knows about Robot Fight Club

[BenRG]

Completely different topic:
I wonder how much May knows about Robot Fight Club

She's an ex-con; it's probably an open secret in the AI jail's chat-rooms.

NOTE
If AIs are anything like humans, they will need something like social interaction to stay healthy and stable. With that in mind, I suspect that the server farms that serve as AI prisons probably have limited interaction between inmates in specially secured and isolated 'chat-rooms' - areas where they can communicate with each other but with many safety features to stop AIs from harming each other or trying to escape via the hardware of the facility.

[Akima]

Are we going to get this kind of fuss every single time the words "I love you" are uttered for the first time in a relationship?

I'm just a bit surprised that it is the first time, but I suppose that might just be the effect of "comic time".

Echoing BenRG, the art in this strip hits it for six. In the second panel, Dora's expression is excellent, and Tai's "sequence" is beautifully drawn. I think Tai must be wearing high heels and Dora flats though.

[Wildroses]

Awww. Ah well, I guess Dora and Tai won't be talking about Sven in the near future which is a pity. Tai was making good points, but now they are both completely distracted by the inadvertent declaration. I guess we aren't going to see the siblings reunited any time soon.

[gopher]

With Dora & Tai's lack of interaction with others at the mo, I'd almost forgotten about them.

[Zebediah]

Comic's up! I like how Tai telling Dora she loved her for the first time totally mirrors Dora telling Marten she loved him for the first time.

Does it? I'm not sure how I feel about that then. How many strips did Dora/Marten last?

About 1300 I think.

Well, Tai's really gone and put her foot in it this time, hasn't she?

No? Not even a little.

It was a joke. Dora's reacting as if Tai has said something earth-shattering when she hasn't.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

Two Mel Gibson reference in a row!

I suspect Sven's return is a sign that things haven't been abandoned to the extent they seemed to have been.  He's still a thing. Tai having an opinion on the subject, at all, is something. I mean, I think you guys are over thinking it, a bit. Tai's skittishness about the subject and her statement are not necessarily horror signs. Keep in mind that the "other" fight implied by "another" was precipitated by exactly this subject. Tai has concerns about Dora pushing people out of her life.

It takes heart, I think, to be honest about all of that in the way Tai was. It's quite brave, too, considering she's likely concerned that she is someone Dora might decide to cut off. You might say that Tai has a brave heart.



 

[Thrillho]

Are we going to get this kind of fuss every single time the words "I love you" are uttered for the first time in a relationship? Is everyone in this comic wandering around oblivious to their partner's emotions? 

Uh. You been in a relationship?

[Welu]

I wonder how Dora will react, considering when Tai first asked her out, Dora said she wasn't too sure about her feelings for Tai and wanted to wait to sleep together till she knew better. Love is a different level though. It sounds like Tai didn't even realise she felt that way yet.

I hope we get back to Tai's point about Sven though too.

[St.Clair]

On the one hand, that was very sweet.
On the other, way to ignore everything else she said.

[pwhodges]

way to ignore everything else she said.

It is of course possible that Tai herself will make exactly that point tomorrow.

[thedevilissix]

Twue wuv!    I am pleased. Took a while in comic time, but I am pleased.
To more serious matters, let's see what Dora has to say about the otherwise serious points offered.

[Tova]

Uh. You been in a relationship?

Uh, yes. More than one.

[Kugai]

Rainbows and Puppies

[Thrillho]

Uh. You been in a relationship?

Uh, yes. More than one.

Did you drop the 'L-word,' and did it mean anything to you when you did?

[Tova]

I have dropped the 'L' word more times than I can count in my long-term relationship, and yes of course it did and still does.

[Thrillho]

Do you see why your initial response is perplexing?

[Tova]

No, sorry. You'll have to explain it to me.

[Thrillho]

The first dropping of the l-word is a big deal, as it should be. Knowing you love them, knowing they love you, and them saying it is completely different. It's nothing to do with being completely unaware of each other's feelings, it's entirely to do with acknowledging big moments in the relationship when they happen, and reacting with the joy and surprise they deserve.

[cesium133]

Considering Jeph has just noted on Twitter that he was looking for references of women in bras, I'm guessing Dora reacts favorably...