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Cute Faybles pillow talk

30 (23.3%)

Awkward Faybles pillow talk

18 (14%)

The backlash starts - Not everyone is happy with the news

6 (4.7%)

Marten and Claire try to congratulate the new couple; this could go well or badly!

17 (13.2%)

Pintsize should have learned his lesson when Bubbles crushed his head!

6 (4.7%)

Tortura spends five strips berating Steve for not making an honest woman of Cossette (over cereal)

8 (6.2%)

Roko and Melon having an ironic conversation (not that they know it) about whether humans could ever be romantically interested in AIs

13 (10.1%)

Dora and Tai have a cute argument over who saw it coming first

5 (3.9%)

Brun is confused about why Elliott and Clinton are so awkward around her. Renee tries to explain

23 (17.8%)

Other (please specify in a comment)

3 (2.3%)

Total Members Voted: 69

[sniktchtherat]

Oh I purposely perpetuate the use of headcannon over headcanon simply because I like the visual.

Carbon-dating myself, but...

  That is not headcannon.  That is Skul Gun.

[traroth]

It's actually kind of funny but unsurprising to see Marten and Dora of a like mind on this.

I'm with them, in case it isn't completely obvious. 

Same here.

[Nunavuter]

I've been following QC since 2010, and I knew one day the subject of AI/human romance would have to come up. If the AIs are real people, then I figured that perhaps they would one day seek out intimate companionship. I thought, however, that the introduction of love, sexuality and intimacy would have been introduced between two AIs, rather than between an AI and a human. The latter form of story arch was too fraught with potential cringe-worthy moments and accusations of prurient "fan service."

A pairing between Momo and Marten Reed, for example, would be problematic to say the least, no matter how delicately it was handled. It would seem too close to a bad sort of anime story. Similarly, a human female paired romantically with an AI "male" character would have another possible set of connotations that could detract from the underlying theme of mutual intimacy if it were our first introduction to such a relationship.

The subject of AI/human romance had to emerge at some point in a comic strip set in a world where humans and sapient AIs coexist as equal agents. Jeph Jacques established the groundwork for a romantic relationship between Bubbles and Faye over many, many months. He established the mutual respect, affection, professional interaction, motivations and underlying psychology rather carefully. By the time the reveal happened, most of us were thinking "well, duh, what took you so long?" There was no shock value for the sake of shock value, no prurient titillation or "fan service" involved.

I figure Jeph Jacques handled the introduction of this matter quite well.

[wlewisiii]

It's actually kind of funny but unsurprising to see Marten and Dora of a like mind on this.

I'm with them, in case it isn't completely obvious. 

I've seen it in real life so my thought at the moment is that when each couple gets home again both Dora and Martin are going to get jumped, hard, by their partners needing to let out their own romantic frustrations 

[Undrneath]

I believe Marten's exact words were "fuckin' go for it, buddy."

and I couldn't agree more, life is too short we all should take opportunity as it comes.

[Is it cold in here?]

"I'd rather regret something I did than something I didn't do".

[jwhouk]

Long time ago we had a poster here who had a headcannon as his avatar.

[SubaruStephen]

Jeph has definitely been reading the forums...

Totally.

Hi, Jeph! *waves*

[Tova]

Jeph has definitely been reading the forums...

Totally.

Hi, Jeph! *waves*

(1 person liked this)

Oooh funny if that was Jeph.... pleaseletitbejeph.... pleaseletitbejeph
*click*
citizenfive

Ah well. It was a long shot.

[Gyrre]

Jeph has definitely been reading the forums...

Totally.

Hi, Jeph! *waves*

Seems he may have missed a few comments, though.

[Carl-E]

Long time ago we had a poster here who had a headcannon as his avatar.

DSL. 



He had a different headcannon avatar before this one, this is the most recent.  I like the way it turns the usual idea around. 





I been here too long.  Been absent even longer... I barely know anybody anymore. 

Not that anything's really changed, mind you! 

[awgiedawgie]

To be fair to Momo, I could do nothing in the water except walk on the bottom (and I could do that quite well) until I was 17 years old, when I finally learned to keep myself afloat and swim. So in her case, it could very well be that she simply does not know how to swim. Her weight and density may be completely irrelevant.

Someone a week or two ago speculated that Bubbles was 400 pounds, and questioned the structural integrity of their bed. My wimpy little twin bed is rated for 500 pounds. Faye’s bed is bigger than mine. So I looked up full (double) sized and queen sized beds to see. The first couple beds I found in either size — just simple wood-framed beds — were rated for 800 pounds. So I have no doubts about Faye’s bed being able to handle the two of them on it (because I doubt Bubbles weighs more than 300 pounds). Besides, we’ve seen the two of them lying together on the bed a long time ago.

A couple of points on relative AI mass:  Momo is light enough that an average person can lift her.  She's also short and slender, same as Winslow - I know a person who is less than 5 feet tall, and they have trouble keeping themselves above 90 pounds.  Bubbles is well north of 6 feet, possibly approaching 7, and BUILT.  Andre Roussimoff only hit 7'4", and he exceeded 500 lbs easily. Also, http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3150 - Bubbles has serious mass, and not all of that is the armor.  Either that, or Emily is as diffuse physically as she is mentally and thus gets blown along the streets like an untethered kite.

Yes, I estimate Momo is around 100 lbs at most. I weighed less than that when I was a teenager (I was only 4'8" when I was 14).

I reasoned that Bubbles is roughly 6'8", based on how she passes through doorways in their apartment (assuming they are standard commercial 7' doorways). The upper range for the normal weight of a large-framed human female at that height is just over 200 lbs. So I am guessing (which is all I can do) that Bubbles is probably not more than 150% of that. With her armour, possibly closer to 400. Anything more than that would have been problematic for a military combat android.

I'm guessing Emily is around 125 lbs, only because I know a couple girls who are about the same height and build as Emily, and that's what they weigh. When 125 lbs hits 400 lbs with a rubber mallet, the 400 lb person isn't going to move much, unless the 125 lb person is moving a lot faster than Emily was.

[DaiJB]

"In this comic, Tai and Claire represent the readers"

Some of the readers, Jeph - not all... 

...Because some of the readers aren't particularly concerned one way or the other about a Bubbles/Faye relationship, and some of the readers just don't like shipping and the whole "I like the idea of these two characters getting together therefore so shall it be"... 

[Carl-E]

I reasoned that Bubbles is roughly 6'8", based on how she passes through doorways in their apartment (assuming they are standard commercial 7' doorways). The upper range for the normal weight of a large-framed human female at that height is just over 200 lbs. ...

Whoa, what?  I'm 5'7" and over 200 lbs.  While slightly portly and male (38" waist), I'm also still a sinker, I cross my legs and sit on the bottom of the pool (much to the entertainment of children). 

Females are often more buoyant due to a difference in body fat, and may well weigh a bit less, but I challenge you to find a solidly built 6'8" female in the neighborhood of 200 lbs.  My svelte 5'3" daughter is 150 lbs easy (she ran track, athletes tend to be denser). 

I can easily see Bubbles at 350. 

[MrNumbers]

If I might summon my inner BenRG again? Cheers, bud, for lettin' me borrow your spirit like that.

So how I was saying 'good relationships show what they offer to each other what no one else does', right? I like that today's comic shows

1: That Dora and Marten grew more as people without each other, than with. They're still good friends, but they've obviously found better partners suited for them.
2: Why they seemed like a good idea in the first place. It shows how they're good with each other, if not for each other.

And it did it on a strip talking about the complicated nature of the relationship Faye and Bubbles are in. You see three romantic relationships outlined here, and the main pairing doing the talking is the one that went south.

[Dandi Andi]

"In this comic, Tai and Claire represent the readers"

Some of the readers, Jeph - not all... 

...Because some of the readers aren't particularly concerned one way or the other about a Bubbles/Faye relationship, and some of the readers just don't like shipping and the whole "I like the idea of these two characters getting together therefore so shall it be"... 

I usually agree with you about shipping. Deciding you like the idea of two people being together and squealing about "OTPs" and whatnot is annoying to me and kind of creepy. Just look at how hurtful it was to Clinton when Claire tried to push him into a relationship with Emily. That was super not cool. But I also feel that shipping has its place. For some, it's about being excited about the possibility of being represented in their favorite media. For some, it's the same kind of speculation as any other speculation we do. "How will [character] handle [situation]?" "What are the long term implications of [action]?" "How will [characters'] relationship develop?"

The Faye x Bubbles relationship has been hinted at for almost as long as Bubbles has been in the comic and the emotional payoff has been delayed for years. This has been the typical "will they/won't they" dynamic of many American sitcoms (though handled far better than almost any television writers have ever managed in my opinion). For people who are as excited about relationships as other people are about non-romantic tension, this moment is as powerful as a series finale when the wayward hero finally defeats the big bad and returns home at the end of season 7. The cheers and squeals from the audience are positively deafening right now.

I get that you're not into the shipping part of this. That's cool. Neither am I, really. But there's always next week. Jeph has managed to create a slice of life comic that has a lot of different things to offer. Right now, we can let the shippers have their moment. Next week (or so) we can go back to watching Brun worry about her brand of deodorant. I'm just really enjoying watching how excited Fayelovesbubbles is about it all.

[OldGoat]

New one's up, and Jeph pokes fun at us.  Brutally accurate fun.   

And richly deserved.

[BenRG]

Today illustrates just how creepy shipping real people can be. That said, I think it's ironic that two women who are as 'chalk and cheese' as Claire and Tai are in so many ways have exactly the same approach to personal boundaries when it comes to matter of romance! FWIW, I do not consider myself one of those fans, at least I hope that I'm not. You will notice that I've managed to avoid going 'SQUEE' or even gushing very much!

However, we are reminded that Marten was originally very much Jeph's SI and and to this day is occasionally his voice in the strip.

Meanwhile, Dora and Marten are (again) having to be the adults in the room. It sort of illustrates the tragedy of the Dorapocalypse: But for Dora's crippling insecurities, she and Marten probably would have ended up lasting long-term given how similar they are in so many ways. Instead, even now with Tai, Dora occasionally has to confront bursts of paranoid ideation.

[awgiedawgie]

I reasoned that Bubbles is roughly 6'8", based on how she passes through doorways in their apartment (assuming they are standard commercial 7' doorways). The upper range for the normal weight of a large-framed human female at that height is just over 200 lbs. ...

Whoa, what?  I'm 5'7" and over 200 lbs.  While slightly portly and male (38" waist), I'm also still a sinker, I cross my legs and sit on the bottom of the pool (much to the entertainment of children). 

Females are often more buoyant due to a difference in body fat, and may well weigh a bit less, but I challenge you to find a solidly built 6'8" female in the neighborhood of 200 lbs.  My svelte 5'3" daughter is 150 lbs easy (she ran track, athletes tend to be denser). 

I can easily see Bubbles at 350.

I am male as well. When I was 17, I hit 6'3" (I grew 18" in 18 months - my parents had long given up trying to keep me in clothes that fit). I was 153 lbs for the next 5 years. When I was 22, I started a job that involved a lot of heavy lifting, my upper body got stronger, and I went up to 165, where I stayed for the next 15 years. Now I'm pushing 50, and badly out of shape, and I'm 200 lbs even. My brother, on the other hand, is only 6' tall and in much better shape than me, and he's also 200 lbs. He's very dense.

I had a female friend in high school who was a diver and cheerleader. She was fit, but thin. She was 5'9" and weighed 135 lbs (she swore I couldn't lift her, because I was so skinny - so I did it just to prove her wrong). She was at the very low end of the normal range for her height, but she still wasn't as thin as Emily. (Yes, athletes - especially runners - tend to be more dense, so your daughter's 150 lbs is not too surprising)

The "normal" weight I used for my estimate was the same on several different health websites. I had to extrapolate, since none of their charts actually went up to 6'8" for females. For 6'0", the high weight is 179 lbs, and the chart goes up an average of 3.5 lbs per inch, so the high weight for 6'8" would be 207 lbs.

[JoeCovenant]

#NOTALLREADERS

[gopher]

As I think their is much more drama to be had from a failing/failed relationship I hope it does not work. I really don't want another happy couple put on the happy couple shelf to make space for another new character. I really find it hard top get invested in some ofthe recent characters who seem to have been spewed out with a 3 word summary rather than a genuine description. Melons - she is kooky, Tilly - They are they, Roko - Cop fetishizes bread.

[BenRG]

FWIW, I think that equating 'drama' with 'relationship failure' is erroneous and I totally reject that it is necessary. If anything, I find it cliché, unimaginative and knee-jerk.

Nothing personal, I just don't think that it automatically adds anything to the strip.

[fayelovesbubbles]

Haha, I feel a little embarrassed now. Yes, over the past year and a half my avatar has been various moments with Faye and Bubbles. My username ...well, let's just say I got some messages from people who were less than pleased about it.

One thing I like about my username is that it was the unknown quantity. I knew that Bubbles loved Faye for quite some time, but truth is, until almost now nobody had any idea if my username was true or not. I'm not sure why I chose this instead of bubbleslovesfaye, but maybe it's because we were all waiting to find out. Well, the shippers anyway.

I will be honest: I was preparing for Bubbles to end up like Marigold did with Angus. Jeph said he hated having to do that to Marigold, but everything turned out as it should have. And if Faye hadn't felt the same way, I'm sure everything for Bubbles would have gone as it should, and she would have found the right person. I'm happy that Faye was the right person, though. If I'm being honest I don't know how well Bubbles would have been able to recover. My guess, not well. So I'm glad things went this way.

I maintain that I'm not a shipper, I'm just in love with love!

[Annemoon]

I've seen quite a few people discussing the activity of 'shippers' here, and a quite a few people seem to have quite strong opinions against it.
What strikes me as odd, is also showing this response to a situation in which - in all honestly - the mutual attraction/affection between these people has been made quite explicitly clear.
Still reactions of excitement and the will they/won't they is responded to in almost equal negativity as if they'd been of the 'out of the blue'-shipping that people are referring to.

I don't think this is an appropriate response here, and I think people should be wary of downplaying people's excitement like this.
When you have two friends, obviously having a crush on each other, finally finding out -- of course you'd be excited.
Everyone wishes love and mutual affection to people you care about. I don't think this is an unhealthy sentiment.
And what I've seen from the large majority of 'shippers' here has been along this line of positive response.

There's no reason why they couldn't be exited, and there's no reason why you'd be in any way 'better' than 'the annoying shippers', just because you don't share this sentiment.
-- and luckily I've also seen many people just enjoying the excitement of others while not sharing it themselves, which -I would say- is the healthier reaction

[fayelovesbubbles]

After reading this comic for so long, the characters do sort of start to feel like friends. Haha. I probably need to get out more.

[sniktchtherat]

To be fair to Momo, I could do nothing in the water except walk on the bottom (and I could do that quite well) until I was 17 years old, when I finally learned to keep myself afloat and swim. So in her case, it could very well be that she simply does not know how to swim. Her weight and density may be completely irrelevant.

Someone a week or two ago speculated that Bubbles was 400 pounds, and questioned the structural integrity of their bed. My wimpy little twin bed is rated for 500 pounds. Faye’s bed is bigger than mine. So I looked up full (double) sized and queen sized beds to see. The first couple beds I found in either size — just simple wood-framed beds — were rated for 800 pounds. So I have no doubts about Faye’s bed being able to handle the two of them on it (because I doubt Bubbles weighs more than 300 pounds). Besides, we’ve seen the two of them lying together on the bed a long time ago.

A couple of points on relative AI mass:  Momo is light enough that an average person can lift her.  She's also short and slender, same as Winslow - I know a person who is less than 5 feet tall, and they have trouble keeping themselves above 90 pounds.  Bubbles is well north of 6 feet, possibly approaching 7, and BUILT.  Andre Roussimoff only hit 7'4", and he exceeded 500 lbs easily. Also, http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3150 - Bubbles has serious mass, and not all of that is the armor.  Either that, or Emily is as diffuse physically as she is mentally and thus gets blown along the streets like an untethered kite.

Yes, I estimate Momo is around 100 lbs at most. I weighed less than that when I was a teenager (I was only 4'8" when I was 14).

I reasoned that Bubbles is roughly 6'8", based on how she passes through doorways in their apartment (assuming they are standard commercial 7' doorways). The upper range for the normal weight of a large-framed human female at that height is just over 200 lbs. So I am guessing (which is all I can do) that Bubbles is probably not more than 150% of that. With her armour, possibly closer to 400. Anything more than that would have been problematic for a military combat android.

I'm guessing Emily is around 125 lbs, only because I know a couple girls who are about the same height and build as Emily, and that's what they weigh. When 125 lbs hits 400 lbs with a rubber mallet, the 400 lb person isn't going to move much, unless the 125 lb person is moving a lot faster than Emily was.

I'll point out http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3521 - Bubbles is both taller and broader than Elliot, who is the largest human we've seen in QC.  Elliot is built like a heavyweight pro wrestler from the 80s and 90s - most of them were in the 280-310 range.  I'll also point out Joanie Laurer was 5'10" and weighed 180 - Bubbles has a similar bodytype, but bigger all around.  Square-cube law still applies, and with human-style bodies a minor-seeming change in overall dimensions can be a surprising degree of mass.  500 is possibly pushing it, but unless there have been SuperFuture materials-weight advances in the QCverse, she's still going to be heavier than a human of equal dimensions. 

Over 300, under 500, split the difference and call her non-armored weight 400.  Armor mass would put her up to ~500.  Regarding the issues of weight on combat, unless I'm misreading, Bubbles was infantry - not airborne or mounted infantry, 'just' infantry.  Even on the rare occasions when she would have to mount up, she is rated and has demonstrated a top speed consistent with the official rated maneuver speed of most military vehicles.  If she couldn't mount up, she could keep up - on foot.

[Carl-E]

I am male as well. When I was 17, I hit 6'3" (I grew 18" in 18 months - my parents had long given up trying to keep me in clothes that fit). I was 153 lbs for the next 5 years. When I was 22, I started a job that involved a lot of heavy lifting, my upper body got stronger, and I went up to 165, where I stayed for the next 15 years. Now I'm pushing 50, and badly out of shape, and I'm 200 lbs even. My brother, on the other hand, is only 6' tall and in much better shape than me, and he's also 200 lbs. He's very dense.

Ah.  Your rapid growth may have something to do with that, as the bone density is actually considerably less after a rapid growth spurt like that.  I was one of the biggest kids around until 6th grade when I stopped growing at 5'6" and watched everyone pass be by through high school (the last inch wasn't added until I was 25).  No rapid growth spurt for me! 

The "normal" weight I used for my estimate was the same on several different health websites. I had to extrapolate, since none of their charts actually went up to 6'8" for females. For 6'0", the high weight is 179 lbs, and the chart goes up an average of 3.5 lbs per inch, so the high weight for 6'8" would be 207 lbs.

Well, there's your problem - weight isn't linear with height.  As the one dimension (height) increases, so do other dimensions, in other directions, though not as much.  If I recall correctly, it's about a 3/2 or 4/3 power, but definitely larger than 1.  Not as big as a square power, but definitely not linear.  Note the curve to the lines in the graph below (although there's a great deal of disagreement about the cutoff for overweight/obese, the BMI gives a good idea of the volume/mass relationship with height.  This graph is for women, BTW). 



Besides, most of those "height/weight" charts were developed off really old data - from the 30's and 40's when most governments first started collecting it to study nutrition and health - and people have changed a lot since then.  Some of the nutritional info that was learned in that research has changed the way we grow so much that we're a much larger species on average than we were! 

[jwhouk]

Long time ago we had a poster here who had a headcannon as his avatar.

DSL. 



He had a different headcannon avatar before this one, this is the most recent.  I like the way it turns the usual idea around. 

I been here too long.  Been absent even longer... I barely know anybody anymore. 

Not that anything's really changed, mind you!

Aw, Carl-E, I remember you. Hopefully the $ situation has improved?

[Carl-E]

Oh, hell no.  My retirement fund's almost gone. 

[NemesisDancer]

I am male as well. When I was 17, I hit 6'3" (I grew 18" in 18 months - my parents had long given up trying to keep me in clothes that fit). I was 153 lbs for the next 5 years. When I was 22, I started a job that involved a lot of heavy lifting, my upper body got stronger, and I went up to 165, where I stayed for the next 15 years. Now I'm pushing 50, and badly out of shape, and I'm 200 lbs even. My brother, on the other hand, is only 6' tall and in much better shape than me, and he's also 200 lbs. He's very dense.

Ah.  Your rapid growth may have something to do with that, as the bone density is actually considerably less after a rapid growth spurt like that.  I was one of the biggest kids around until 6th grade when I stopped growing at 5'6" and watched everyone pass be by through high school (the last inch wasn't added until I was 25).  No rapid growth spurt for me! 

Exact same thing happened to me - I was one of the tallest in my year when I started secondary school, but by the time I finished school most people had overtaken me (I'm also 5'6", coincidentally). Oddly, though, I did recently go up a shoe size for the first time in twelve years. Is that something that normally happens in one's mid-twenties?

[Case]

Aw, Carl-E, I remember you.

#metwo !

[Is it cold in here?]

You've been missed!

The best people from the time you were active are still here so you'll have some "familiar faces".

[awgiedawgie]

Well, there's your problem - weight isn't linear with height.  As the one dimension (height) increases, so do other dimensions, in other directions, though not as much.  If I recall correctly, it's about a 3/2 or 4/3 power, but definitely larger than 1.  Not as big as a square power, but definitely not linear.  Note the curve to the lines in the graph below (although there's a great deal of disagreement about the cutoff for overweight/obese, the BMI gives a good idea of the volume/mass relationship with height.  This graph is for women, BTW). 



Besides, most of those "height/weight" charts were developed off really old data - from the 30's and 40's when most governments first started collecting it to study nutrition and health - and people have changed a lot since then.  Some of the nutritional info that was learned in that research has changed the way we grow so much that we're a much larger species on average than we were!

I only went by what I found. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. To be honest, that chart makes more sense than the ones I found, which were linear. As the body's weight increases, it must also increase in strength to support the additional weight, so a non-linear increase is logical. Of course, according to that chart, it's still not unreasonable to think Bubbles is around 300 lbs. And I still think that anything heavier than that would have become problematic for a soldier - specifically in regards to equipment and to her fellow soldiers. We may never know for sure... one never asks a woman how much she weighs.

I am male as well. When I was 17, I hit 6'3" (I grew 18" in 18 months - my parents had long given up trying to keep me in clothes that fit). I was 153 lbs for the next 5 years. When I was 22, I started a job that involved a lot of heavy lifting, my upper body got stronger, and I went up to 165, where I stayed for the next 15 years. Now I'm pushing 50, and badly out of shape, and I'm 200 lbs even. My brother, on the other hand, is only 6' tall and in much better shape than me, and he's also 200 lbs. He's very dense.

Ah.  Your rapid growth may have something to do with that, as the bone density is actually considerably less after a rapid growth spurt like that.  I was one of the biggest kids around until 6th grade when I stopped growing at 5'6" and watched everyone pass be by through high school (the last inch wasn't added until I was 25).  No rapid growth spurt for me! 

Exact same thing happened to me - I was one of the tallest in my year when I started secondary school, but by the time I finished school most people had overtaken me (I'm also 5'6", coincidentally). Oddly, though, I did recently go up a shoe size for the first time in twelve years. Is that something that normally happens in one's mid-twenties?

When I reached my full height of 6'3" I had also reached my top shoe size. Curiously enough, in my mid thirties, I went down a shoe size.

[Is it cold in here?]

One of the best predictors of success in a romantic relationship is having things in common in how the partners were raised and in life histories.

A compatible sense of humor is very important.

Their senses of humor overlap. I doubt that Bubbles's pre-military career had much in common with a childhood as a human in Savannah. What they have in common in their background is disabling trauma, which is not a happy foundation.

[Undrneath]

While it may not be a happy foundation per say, they both understand the others trauma in a way that can be very bonding.  They also have the shared experiences of them growing together, supporting each other, and trusting the other this is the best sort of foundation a prospective relationship can have.

[Pennepasta]

Regarding bubbles' weight - I remember someone making an offhand comment about riding a horse (I think? May have been a reindeer?), and Bubbles saying that she'd flatten it. Does that impact the discussions here?

Edit - http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3333. She thinks she'd crush a reindeer.

[Storel]

I reasoned that Bubbles is roughly 6'8", based on how she passes through doorways in their apartment (assuming they are standard commercial 7' doorways). The upper range for the normal weight of a large-framed human female at that height is just over 200 lbs. ...

Whoa, what?  I'm 5'7" and over 200 lbs.  While slightly portly and male (38" waist), I'm also still a sinker, I cross my legs and sit on the bottom of the pool (much to the entertainment of children). 

Females are often more buoyant due to a difference in body fat, and may well weigh a bit less, but I challenge you to find a solidly built 6'8" female in the neighborhood of 200 lbs.  My svelte 5'3" daughter is 150 lbs easy (she ran track, athletes tend to be denser). 

I can easily see Bubbles at 350.

I had a female friend in high school who was a diver and cheerleader. She was fit, but thin. She was 5'9" and weighed 135 lbs (she swore I couldn't lift her, because I was so skinny - so I did it just to prove her wrong). She was at the very low end of the normal range for her height, but she still wasn't as thin as Emily. (Yes, athletes - especially runners - tend to be more dense, so your daughter's 150 lbs is not too surprising)

I'm male, 5'9-1/2", never particularly muscular, but I did a fair amount of bicycle riding in college, and when I was 20 my weight ranged from 135 lbs to 140. By the time I was in my mid-thirties I was up to 145 (my first wife thought I still looked kind of gaunt), and then I started taking anti-depressants -- several of which cause increased appetite and weight gain. I'm in my mid-fifties now and I'm around 185-190, but you probably wouldn't guess it right away because my face and arms are still skinny (my waist is about 38" too).

Regarding bubbles' weight - I remember someone making an offhand comment about riding a horse (I think? May have been a reindeer?), and Bubbles saying that she'd flatten it. Does that impact the discussions here?

Edit - http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3333. She thinks she'd crush a reindeer.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that deer/reindeer can't carry riders nearly as well as horses can -- their spines can't support as much weight, or some such thing. So yeah, if that's the case then Bubbles might very well be more than a reindeer could handle.

[Undrneath]

Regarding bubbles' weight - I remember someone making an offhand comment about riding a horse (I think? May have been a reindeer?), and Bubbles saying that she'd flatten it. Does that impact the discussions here?

Edit - http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3333. She thinks she'd crush a reindeer.

I feel like this was slight hyperbole on Bubbles part she does seem to have a dark sense of humor sometimes.

[Morituri]

Data point:  When I hit 6'10", and had a build more or less like Elliot's, I weighed 390 pounds.  When I got out of shape and flabby, I got up to 430.  These days, with a lot less bulk in muscle or fat, I weigh 350 pounds.

People tell me now that I am "normally" proportioned.  That they wouldn't guess, until there were something nearby to compare me with, that my size is out of the ordinary in any way.  I don't look fat any more, I don't look beefy, I'm just a regular guy who happens to be large.

There are a lot of tall guys who are ectomorphs - for tall guys, being skinny is more common than a "regular" build.  If I were proportioned like Marten, I might only be 250 pounds or so. 


Bubbles is the same size I was when I graduated, or possibly even slightly larger.  As somebody pointed out, she is taller and broader than Elliot.  I would be pretty shocked if she occupies less volume than a 330 pound human would.  And the armor she was wearing isn't the 100-pound suit of medieval plate - it was heavier than that, and rated for modern weapons fire.  I'd bet on it being about 200 pounds worth of dense metal and ceramic.

(Edit:  For those who use a sane metrology, I'm 208 cm tall and now mass about 159 kg.  At my heaviest I was about 200 kg. If someone my height were actually slender, they'd mass about 115 kg.  I'm guesstimating Bubbles' size as being certainly no less than that of a 150-kg human and suppose that her armor probably masses another 90 kg at least.)

[brasca]

It's amusing that Claire and Tai who are professionally at odds are on the same page when it comes to matters of romance. 

And while this can also be construed as creepy there's nothing wrong with chatting about this as long as they ultimately heed Dora and Marten's advice to let this all play out naturally. 

[zmeiat_joro]

Guys, this whole inches and pounds and feet thing -- can you just take the time to convert that to kilograms and centimeters also? I can't follow. I don't want to have to use a calculator to simply follow a conversation.

[pwhodges]

I sympathise - but it can play both ways, remember; and while this forum is quite international, the American members are a distinct majority.  On the whole I feel that the conversions are simple enough that they can be done to sufficient accuracy in the head - e.g. 1 kg is roughly 2 lb (2.2 is nearer), so to convert pounds to kilograms its just a matter of halving and then a bit smaller.  My browser (Opera) will convert amounts written with abbreviations (but not words) in a pop-up if they are highlighted. E.g.:



Or you can just write/paste the amount (words are accepted) in your browser's Google search box and hit return - no separate calculator needed.

[Tova]

I was quite interested in that feature until I noticed that it claimed 6'10" equals 15.49 cm. Maybe 6.10 inches equals 15.49cm.

Off the top of my head, I think 6'10" is probably around 205 cm.

[SmilingCat]

My browser (Opera) will convert amounts written with abbreviations (but not words) in a pop-up if they are highlighted. E.g.:

While the conversion of 6 feet 10 inches to fifteen centimeters is clearly wrong , I didn't know Opera could do that. Neat!

[wlewisiii]

Look at the bright side, I have an english friend who is always telling me weight in Stones.   

(1 stone = 14 lbs = 6.35 kg My fat old ass is 22 Stone!)

[Tova]

I just installed a Firefox add-on to do the conversion for me.

[zmeiat_joro]

I have a few shortcuts about US measures when it comes to cooking. A cup is 220 ml of olive oil -- with half a lemon, an egg, and a teaspoon of Dijon mustard  is 400 ml of mayo. A pound of meat is 450 grams.

[fantasticalice]

Well, I mean, I figured it was a given that he reads. Just curious if he's ever had a "that's cool let's do it" moment from reading some of the theory stuff that gets posted.

On a slightly similar note I always get a kick out of people saying "headcannon" instead of "headcanon" and so thus end up picturing someone with a giant cannon for a head. I suppose that could account for some folks blowing their top sometimes. /badpun

In Wow:Legion there's a quest for engineers to get and make a Headcannon.

It's a sadly straightforward quest and could have used more humpur but the item itslef always made me laugh.

[awgiedawgie]

I have a few shortcuts about US measures when it comes to cooking. A cup is 220 ml -- when it has to do with the amount of oil in mayonnaise. A pound of meat is 450 grams.

I keep track of a few other ones related to climbing and hiking. 1 inch = 2.54 cm. 1 km = 5/8 mile / 1 mile = 1.6 km. 1 kN = 225 lbf. 98.6 deg F = 37 deg C. 200 lbs (my weight) = 91 kg.

I'm in the US, so I'm used to inches and pounds, but a lot of my gear is measured or rated in metric.

[zmeiat_joro]

I'm in the US, so I'm used to inches and pounds, but a lot of my gear is measured or rated in metric.

That's interesting, why is that? I'm also an avid hiker and a caver, also. 
EDIT: well, I don't do much caving lately.