425

Crash and burn
Posted on September 9, 2024 by David M Willis

425 thoughts on “Crash and burn”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    “what about Beef”

    said the 5’0″ shorty who can’t entirely sympathise

    1. Corronchilejano

      He’s kind of a dick isn’t he? She’d probably jackhammer him. Literally.

      1. Rolf of Many Doors

        Ain’t Beef the dude in the red jacket? One whose only speaking lines are “>GRUNT<"?

      2. Allen Alberti

        yeah, honestly f*$k this guy. Sarah deserves better.

    2. staszu13

      Beef has only made a handful of appearances here, seems as inarticulate as he was in the Walkyverse, and how would Sarah know if he can speak English, much less understand his grunting?

      1. Clif

        But let’s be honest. Is that really important?

        1. BarerMender

          My third wife was taller than me (I’m average at 5’10”). This wasn’t a problem for either of us.

      2. Needfuldoer

        After everything he went through in the old continuity, Beef deserves a break.

    3. Thag Simmons

      I think Sarah wants a dude who can hold a conversation.

      1. Bryy

        Literally hold one off her description.

    4. Sirksome

      Yo was Beef’s first appearance technically foreshadowing Danny’s bisexuality?

      1. Clif

        I’m not sure it did then, but it does now.

    5. Tan

      Sarah said she only knows three taller men. She and Beef have never shared an appearance.

    6. Kammon

      From this, we can deduce that Sarah has not yet met Jason. 1 inch taller then Joe if I recall, though significantly less heavy.

      …should Willis pair up the well-meaning but snarky Misanthropes?

      1. Ana Chronistic

        she did say “like” three men

        and Joyce called him a boy

        idk

        anyway they met https://www.dumbingofage.com/tag/sarah+jason/

  2. EpochFlame

    not a fan of height difference, then?

    1. Doctor_Who

      Buy your man some shoe lifts, Sarah, and get over under it.

      1. Leorale

        Seriously. Height is a dumb criterion. If it’s that big a deal for you, you can just stand on some stairs together and be whatever relative heights you like.

        1. Needfuldoer

          Stilts are more portable.

        2. Vivvav

          It’s just more comfortable.

          I’m a 6’5″ guy. I prefer dating taller women because they’re literally on my level. Don’t have to look down to meet their eye, don’t have to slow down my pace while walking around together, don’t have to bend over a bunch for a hug or a kiss. There’s a lot of comfort and physical compatability being around the same height. And for women, there’s this whole other element where society’s given them ideas about what a woman should be that include being daintier than the man you’re with, which, even if you know that stuff is bullshit, it’s hard to shake off old ideas that you internalized when you were young. Or it may just be an attraction thing. Nothing wrong with having a type.

      2. Nymph

        People are allowed to have physical criteria for their romantic and sexual partners. There’s nothing at ALL wrong with it and it’s beyond weird how many people are opposed to Sarah wanting a larger (taller/more physically muscled) man like it’s some failing to have features you find attractive and to want your partner to have those features.

        1. Random832

          Right but it’s not just that she wants a tall guy, it’s that she’s internalized that women should date men taller than them so she resents Lucy, being shorter than her, dating an ‘excessively’ tall man because she don’t ‘need’ him as much.

        2. Nymph

          Sure that’s one take on it. I disagree with that take, but it’s one you can have.

        3. temporaryobsessor

          Sarah said she had no other option.

        4. Taffy

          Out of the three big dudes she knows. Context.

    2. Tan

      She specifically is a fan of height difference, just in the one particular direction.

    3. Michael Steamweed

      Most times, most people can’t control what their instincts are wanting for sexual attractiveness. There is certainly that component to attraction and dating.

  3. Claire

    She’s right!!! Tall girl problems….

    1. Laura

      Why is it important to have a taller boyfriend? Genuinely curious.

      Reasons I can think of:

      -To get things off of high places

      And… Hmm. Can’t think of another.

      1. Kimi

        The main reasons I have heard of is dancing and high heels. I do wonder how much of it is just social perceptions though.

        1. Laura

          Hm. OK, I could see that. Dancing, like kissing, might involve one partner leaning back and letting the other partner support their weight a bit. So the height difference could matter in both contexts.

        2. Jon

          Speaking as a 6’3″ leader, there are few forms of social dance where you support your partner’s weight other than momentarily. It is nice in a dance that moves a lot, like Quickstep or Waltz, to have legs of about the same length. Other than that, the main virtue of being close in height is that my partners can see over my shoulders to help navigate, and to perhaps be less bored than with just a view of my chest.

        3. Kimi

          Good to know. I was only speaking from what others have told me, unfortunately. Glad to know that it isn’t a restriction.

        4. Laura

          Fascinating! Thank you! I was thinking of swing dancing and contra dancing (“swing and turn”), which involve lots of center-of-gravity interplay. Square dancing, less so, but still does have the “swing”, which is all about the use of centrifugal force, with the leader’s hand on the small of the follower’s back to stabilize the follower.

      2. BarerMender

        Slapping spiders on the ceiling?

        1. Laura

          Ah-HA! That’s IT!

        2. asmodai27

          and mosquitoes!

      3. Nono

        Sometimes people like a REALLY big spoon.

        1. Laura

          Yes, that makes sense. I like to spoon my dog in bed and she’s littler than be.

        2. Laura

          *than me.

      4. Samniel

        I can confirm that having a taller boyfriend is fun for sexy reasons. Some girls and guys like shorter guys, but some do like the sort of fun they can have with a taller man that can carry them around.

        1. Laura

          Ooh, that IS fun!

        2. Ben

          Height doesn’t mean stronk. Lack of height doesn’t mean weak

          Source: me – Built like a goddamned Tolkien dwarf

        3. Laura

          Rock on!

        4. Ana Chronistic

          nice

        5. Jodka

          Any person, at any height, can carry around another person.

        6. Ana Chronistic

          depends; if I tried to carry around Sarah, I’m sure I’d get a hernia

      5. Miri

        My sister in law is 6′ and her boyfriend has dwarfism and apparently people point and laugh, take photos, etc, because “they look so funny” together ? They look like they’re happy together mainly, I reckon. They treat each other well. They’re a nice couple.

        1. Kimi

          Societal input and influence where you don’t want it.
          I do admit that I might wonder about someone at or over 7′ being with with someone 4’6 or less. I would at least have the decency and common sense to not point and laugh though. I have enough trouble with things like shower height, switching who is driving (changing the seat and mirrors) and other things with just 7ish inches difference in height. Anything over 2 feet in difference has got to make life interesting.

        2. Lexi

          > Societal input and influence where you don’t want it.

          YES THIS. THIS IS IT.

          I am 5’11”. My husband is 6’3″. I truly do appreciate that he’s taller than me. And I don’t honestly care that much about it, I absolutely have and would date shorter men. But I really do appreciate just not hearing constant remarks about how I’m “so tall” and “can’t wear heels around my bf” and whatever other stupid shit people said to me growing up.

          It shouldn’t matter. But for some reason, other people made it matter.

        3. Jodka

          It’s a result of the patriarchy. Speaking from that perspective: The man is the one in the charge, the man is the one who wears the pants in the relationship. Everything about the man must show his power, leadership ability, and control of his partner. How can a man be a man if his woman is taller. How can a man appear powerful next to a woman taller than him. How can any man respect him when he looks “pathetic” next to his taller wife. This mentality, along with other patriarchal beliefs (i.e. man must always pay for dinner, woman must always be a house wife and the one who raises the children, man must never show his emotions, woman must always do what she’s told, etc.) still exist today, but the height thing is never viewed in the same negative patriarchal light. It’s insane how many people consider themselves progressives but still cling to antiquated and sexist ideas like “the man must be taller in a relationship”.

        4. asmodai27

          I agree with your argument on society as a whole, but in this circumstance, I don’t specifically think Sarah is “cling[ing] to antiquated and sexist ideas like “the man must be taller in a relationship””, as much as she is simply more attracted to taller men.

          There is such a thing as personal preference, which will make you act a certain way even if it does not dictate how you think others must act.

          The problem is people often confuse “I prefer this for myself” (personnal preference) with “this is how everyone must think” (core beliefs on societal values).

          It is hard to tell what the impact of society is on personnal preference, but it is also unfair to ask people to not date the person they are more attracted to with the argument that it reinforces patriarchal values.

        5. Yotomoe

          But isn’t Sarah still sorta invoking that concept by claiming that short boys like Walky are “for” Lucy and to save the 6’3 guys for people like her? She literally is claiming that it SHOULD dictate how others should act, namely that short girls should stay with short boys so that tall girls can date taller boys.

        6. asmodai27

          I kinda read that as a rant on what she would prefer rather than an actual thnig she would ask people to do… but yeah I can see that now.

        7. thejeff

          I think right now it’s not surprising she’s ranting about Lucy.

          It’s a deflection from her actual complaint, I suspect.

      6. zee

        It hot

      7. Nymph

        Because she likes taller men.

        Physical attraction isn’t something that needs reason. It just is.

  4. NGPZ

    Sarah is literally thinking right now, “is the universe gonna fucking fall apart if things go my way ONCE?” ;-;

    1. Clif

      Stupid Jacob objecting to being objectified. Doesn’t he know it’s a compliment?

    2. anon

      watch as she comes across someone her type and it ends up being a butch lesbian 8D

  5. EpochFlame

    shoutout to joyce maintaining sarah’s friend group

    1. Bryy

      Raidah’s totally gonna take credit for Sarah crashing and burning.

  6. Mr. Random

    Sarah, not everyone has to be taller than you to be viable to date.

    1. Bittersweet

      I used to say I wouldn’t date a man unless he was taller than me. I am 5’2 and 3/4 inches so this seemed pretty reasonable. Said the same thing about only dating older guys.

      Anyways, my husband is 5’2 even and is a year younger than me and I love him very much.

    2. Opus the Poet

      My wife used to be 4″ shorter than me, but after her spinal fusion and numerous spinal injuries and leg injuries for me we’re about even, if she could stand up. The XXth century has not been good to either of us.

    3. anon

      i mean, it shouldn’t be a deal breaker but sarah did say she wanted to be the one ‘climbing the obstacle course’ so to speak

      Although you’d think she’d wanna make exceptions just for ‘flings’ or so

    4. Nymph

      They do if that’s her primary physical preference in a partner.

      She doesn’t need to lower her standards just because you disagree with hers.

  7. Sirksome

    I so identify with this problem. Finding anyone talker than 6’7 especially women is very difficult.

    1. Clif

      Oh, good. I started to ask, is it just me or did Sarah suddenly start making sense.

      1. Aura

        Weird, I thought she just stopped making sense :S

  8. Yumi

    Continue not to get why people care so much about height. Was raised by a 6ft tall mom and a 5ft 11.5in tall dad, and when I told my kindergarten class that my mom was taller than my dad, they lost their shit. Wish we had left those feelings behind in kindergarten.

    1. Wraithy2773

      On some level, its for the same sorts of reasons as caring about large breasts/asses or excessive musculature. There’s some biological imperative reasons behind it, but the vast majority is just that we’re all marinating in this soup of bullshit that we call a society, and no matter how much we know that we still can’t help but be influenced by it.

      1. Sirksome

        I mean, I just want to be held in big strong arms. I don’t know if society did that or if watching tons of pro wrestling and Xena warrior princess did.

        1. Effie

          I’ve always figured most people’s preferences are driven by instinct, sometimes even completely subconscious. So for example: do you like big strong arms because you watched wrestling and Xena? Or – what I personally find more likely – did you like watching wrestling and Xena because you already liked big strong arms?

        2. Emma

          Biology and culture are intertwined when it comes to attraction but it’s pretty certain that culture plays a bigger part in details about someone’s appearance as it’s something that varies much faster than our physical appearance does : think about how in the 1800’s the western world used to value bigger women, or how our culture is valuing ass more than boobs recently. Regarding men’s height it’s fairly obvious that a big part of it has to do with patriarchy. A smaller man is not seen as attractive because it’s seen as emasculating.

        3. Doki

          Oh yeah, attraction to breasts is a good example. Some cultures don’t see them as sexual at ALL. In fact, those cultures that do see breasts as sexual are in the minority globally! (I say all this as a definite Boob Enjoyer™️ BTW, so no shade at anyone who does like them LOL)

        4. Rose by Any other Name

          @Sirksome
          Strong arms can be attached to short people too.
          I am several inches taller than my wife.
          My wife was a college athlete (fencing) and has kept fit – her arms are thicker than mine, and she can pick me up even though I’m heavier than her.
          And yes, I very much get off on that fact.

          Also – fuck yeah Xena Warrior Princess!

        5. Taffy

          But can she still fence? Like, if you and she are in a dark alley and a man with two foils comes up and tosses one in front of y’all, do you trust her to pick it up and defeat him in single combat?

        6. Clif

          I can see why that would be a concern, but the trick is while she distracts him, you pick up a rock and bean him from behind.

      2. Kimi

        Some of what I have read after being curious does even seem to be initial preconceptions as much as feedback from the general public. Nothing like someone asking if your husband is your son just because he is shorter than you. That all could be blamed on the same marination though.

      3. Doki

        Is it biologically innate in any way, though? I don’t think it’s possible to even BEGIN to untangle that sociological web with any confidence. Too many factors we can never ethically control for.

        Anyway, I tend to think characters who could effortlessly beat the shit out of me are hot (COUGH current icon COUGH), but I also don’t feel like that’s connected to height in any way. But maybe I’m just a bit of an outlier because I’m 1. bi/pan and 2. the kid of a guy who’s like 5’6″, so I’ve never seen being tall as an essential trait for men?

        1. Doki

          (Also, for posterity: my current icon is Shadow the hedgehog. Just wanted to future-proof this in case I change my icon down the road LOL)

        2. eskimolos

          as someone who didn’t have a dad and had three scrawny brothers, I do feel like it’s an instinctive thing? I’ve been attracted to short guys, but for that first pang of attraction and outright lust, it’s always been the taller the better, even when I was very small and didn’t yet have such concepts. I’d weigh more on the side of instinct and some biological imperative, and less on societal preconceptions shaping one’s tastes. But humans aren’t cookie cutters, and plenty of people likely feel differently, just as we all often feel differently about a lot of things.

        3. Doki

          I’m not cis OR het, so I honestly have no idea haha. I’m too much of a cultural outlier to be able to comment on a personal level. I do generally think sociological factors shouldn’t be underestimated, though!

          Also, research indicates that kids learn how to perform gender SUPER young. We’re talking, like, between 18 months and 3 years old. So I’m not sure anyone IS actually able to say they didn’t buy into gendered stereotypes at all, even as a very young child (unless they somehow never encountered them, obviously).

      4. Jodka

        Those are biological instincts. Height “preference” is a sociological issue stemming from patriarchal ideals.

        1. Wraithy2773

          What if I told you that a preference can be rooted in both a biological instinct ***and*** a sociological issue stemming from patriarchal ideals?

    2. Serendipity

      People are attracted to what they’re attracted to. Sarah’s into guys that are taller than her.

      1. Doki

        This is fair. She’s totally allowed to have that preference!

        That said, I think it IS kinda funny we’re already seeing the positive mask slip a little with her wanting shorter women to “stay in their lane”.

        1. Lexi

          Honestly, when she says it with a smile, it seems more like harmless snarking and less like a seriously held belief like it would if she’d said it with her normal expression.

          Guess it depends how seriously you think she is about “How dare these short girls end up with the tall guys!”

        2. Rogue 7

          I mean, the last panel clearly tells us (and Jacob) that Sarah’s new personality *is*, in fact, because Lucy got with Jacob, and that she’s doing this not out of a genuine belief that it’s good to be this way, but because she wants to get laid and she’s decided that Jacob is literally the only guy on campus that meets her criteria for a partner. I’m willing to concede that her newfound attitude is born out of a desire to expand her pool of potential boytoys rather than an attempt to steal Jacob from Lucy, but she’s definitely doing this to get laid.

          Which I have no problem with ethically, but it’s *definitely * going to fail.

        3. Lexi

          What’s wrong with “Well, it turns out my attitude is driving people away, so I’m going to try and emulate the attitude of the person who seems to get everything I want?”

          And how many times must she say “I’m not doing this to try and break up you and Lucy” before people believe that actually, she’s not doing it to try and break up Jacob and Lucy. It’s not like she EVER made it a secret that she was into Jacob, so I don’t see her continuing to express that yes, she is into him as anything new, but that doesn’t mean she can’t also accept that it’s not happening. Wanting something is not the same as trying to do something.

        4. Yotomoe

          I think it’s less that she is trying to break them up and more just the very open saltiness she has towards Lucy for stealing him away. She’s saying TO JACOB that girls like Lucy shouldn’t date taller guys like him because it’s unfair for tall girls like her. The whining about not getting to bang a dude to that dude can come off a bit incel-y

        5. Lexi

          She literally invited him to a party to try and hook up with him, he KNOWS that, and he went home with another girl.

          And when she WASN’T salty about it, everyone got on her case and poked and prodded about her being infected with brain slugs until she finally admited that yes, she’s a bit salty.

          But OH NO, SHE WAS A LITTLE MEAN WHEN SHE SAID IT, ATTACK HER!!

        6. Clif

          Done.

      2. Yumi

        And she’s expressing as they way things should be beyond just her– though yes, there is some exaggeration for effect– and our preferences can be impacted by society. You don’t have to date someone you’re not attracted to, but we can still think about what might contribute to us feeling the way we do.

    3. Nymph

      It’s physically attractive to her. Period. End of.

      1. Yumi

        It’s not like this is a unique thing, and I’m talking more about the societal norm it’s a part of than Sarah in particular. OBVIOUSLY people can have their preferences, Sarah’s not even real, AND there are normative beauty standards that do a disservice to a lot of people.

    4. yak

      I think part of it is just biological (bigger = better, especially if the male tends to have greater muscle mass and do most of the fighting for your group) and part of it is due to patriarchal standards that are deeply ingrained by society. Women are told from a very young age that the ideal man is rich, ripped, and able to sweep them off their feet. The idea being, I guess, that if you’re weak and going to spend all day at home taking care of children, you need a big strong man to take care of you.

      Based on the way Sarah is talking, the sexual part of her is running the show right now, which I think means “I want someone taller than me” is almost 100% biological instinct for her.

      1. yak

        Also, to be clear, I don’t think this kind of evolutionary psychology stuff can fully explain peoples’ sex drives, but there are very clear, usually highly cross-cultural and cross-sexuality-spectrum trends in what people find sexually attractive. There’s clearly some instinctual logic to mate selection that has been passed down in our genetic code. There’s also things that are obviously derived from more artificial means. For instance, I doubt proto-humans cared about pubic hair or body hair.

        ANyway long story short I think in this case, straight woman wanting men taller than them part of our biological heritage, and it’s made normative by patriarchy as well, which is perhaps why so many people have it as part of their “standards”.

  9. staszu13

    Oh oh Sarah’s hulking out

  10. Bittersweet

    Me and my 5’2 husband are laughing at you from the hobbit house in which we live, Sarah

    1. Kimi

      Flash backs to old New England houses and their small door frames. I never personally had any issues with them, but it was interesting.

      1. John Campbell

        My mom’s house is a 19th-century farmhouse. It has a door like that at the bottom of the stairs. Mom is 5’2″. Literally everyone else in the family, even my 13-year-old nephew, is taller than she is.

        Mom stopped complaining about the handprint-smudge above the doorframe after my 6’2″ father literally knocked himself out coming down the stairs.

        1. Kimi

          Hope that he is alright. That doesn’t sound good.

        2. Scoutinthenight

          My house is over 100 years old, but was fortunately built in the mid-west. The doorframes are all large enough, but the landings on my stairwells are a bit tight. When going downstairs in the dark I’ve gotten into the habit of holding my hand about two inches in front of my forehead so I know when to lean my head to the side. It amuses me to know other people have made the same adaptation; but now I need to go see if there are handprints I’ve never noticed.

        3. me

          My dad busted the light in the basement with his head, then had to find his way up in the dark. He was like 6’2″ and had dark hair into his seventies. Me? 5’7″ and gray.

        4. me

          Okay, okay…5’6″.

    2. Leorale

      Seriously. With all the ways you could sort all the fellows in the world, choosing dates based on their height has always struck me as insane. I detest it (even though it means more short kings for me).

      Once we conquer fatphobia, let’s end the short-shaming (esp of men).

      1. Kimi

        I really do think that it came about from a historical basis and just has yet to fade. If I recall right, I lot of the traditional dancing types normally need the leading partner (male back in the day) to be taller. There is also probably the perception that the taller partner is the more dominant one, which also probably would have been a big faux pas back in the day. I would say that we are getting better as a society, but it is still frowned upon for a male to be considered “feminine” (for example, wearing a dress).

        1. Clif

          Tell them your Scottish and that it’s actually a kilt. They’ll never know the difference.

        2. Kimi

          They might be suspicious of the glitter though. My main experience is through one of my cousin’s kids who likes wearing his sister’s fairy or princess costumes. I personally don’t see why a boy can’t play as either of those things, but I guess that they were worried about bullying in school. To me, it just seems like a weird thing to get upset over.

        3. Miri

          My 4 year old son has 2 big sisters. Keeping him away from glittery or telling him he can’t like pink too would be mean… Heck, kiddo went to preschool with bunches once last term because he needs a haircut and it’s his one of his “favourite hair styles” along with letting him brush his own hair…

        4. Kimi

          He has 3 brothers and only one sister, so has access to whatever his heart desires. Whether there is the added bonus of annoying his sister with running off with “her” things, we may never know.

        5. jflb96

          What should I tell them about my Scottish?

        6. Clif

          That it’s housebroken.

      2. Laura

        So true! I asked Dr. Google whether humans preferred sexual dimorphism in height and the answers came back sounding like they came out of “Brave New World”:

        https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/after-service/201909/5-reasons-why-women-and-men-care-about-height

        “I’m really awfully glad I’m a Beta…”

        1. Laura

          That whole idea of taller people finding their own success more…
          Dustin Hoffman is 5ft 5.
          Ben Stiller’s 5ft 6
          Tom Cruise is 5ft 7.
          Not to mention Shorty Rossi, “4 feet tall and rising”.

          The exceptions that prove the rule, maybe?

        2. Coriander

          Admittedly, they’re in cinema which is one of the places you can make your height look like whatever you want…

          Rhys-Davies (Gimli from LOTR) is 6’1”… it’s dumb but statistically taller guys tend to have a little more success in hiring, pay, promotions, etc.

        3. Laura

          I did not know that about Gimli… Hmm…

        4. Clif

          I’m not sure it’s completely relevant, but if you go back in history, the taller presidential candidate has almost always won.

        5. Laura

          I hope this year breaks that chain!

      3. Doki

        High five for this! I’ve always hated people being judged for traits they can’t control.

        1. Nymph

          And yet here you are judging people by what they feel attraction to. Which is not something they can control.

        2. Liara

          You are really hurt by this, aren’t you? You’ve left like a dozen comments defending this (also btw, since this is societal influence you absolutely can control and change it with time.)

        3. Nymph

          Hurt, no. Bothered, yes. Excellent observation.

          I disagree that what you find attractive is changeable, and I super disagree that it is in need of changing.

        4. Elf grrl

          Your comment (as condescending as it sounds via text) is getting into the weird territory of conversion therapy where we force people to recalibrate their innate attraction to fit one narrative. I agree people are allowed to have preferences in who they find attractive and want as a partner or lover. So long as both parties are consenting adults and into each other what does it matter? Could preferences change gradually over time? Sure but it’s not worth shaming someone over

        5. Doki

          Just wanna throw out there that I said that Sarah’s allowed her preference for taller men in a different comment. It may be shaped by society – we all are, in myriad ways – but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. (Aside from the fact that she’s fictional, obviously.)

          However, there are certain traits that are near-universally considered ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ or ‘cringe’ in our current pop culture, yet which traits are considered unattractive trends to vary by time and culture despite being possible across the entire human genome. THAT is what I hate. I hate how cyclical beauty trends are and how viciously people degrade others, not any individual person. It is possible to say someone just isn’t your cup of tea and move on in a polite way, but I often see people mocking people they weren’t even ever considering dating as being ugly in public.

          I would never begrudge someone their personal preference. I WOULD be uncomfortable if they’re an asshole who makes sweeping statements deriding others, though. Hopefully this makes sense…?

      4. Nymph

        Not wanting to date someone because they are physically unattractive to you isn’t shaming or phobia. It’s a preference.

        1. Nathan

          What’s happening here though is Sarah throwing a fit about how short people should stay in their lane. The context is important, even if people aren’t mentioning it explicitly.

        2. Nymph

          I wouldn’t call a single comment “throwing a fit” and I don’t have a problem with her comment in the context of this being a comic and that being the punchline panel.

        3. Nathan

          Also, attractiveness is driven by culture. Not saying every individual is obligated to analyze their own attraction, but when there are trends in what is seen as attractive, that warrants consideration. And when stigmatized or marginalized groups are seen as unattractive (or attractive!) that is something to be aware of.

          I don’t see how there could be a moral imperative to treat attraction as always immutable.

        4. Nymph

          Good thing I didn’t say there was any such moral imperative. I’m going to leave you to talk to yourself since it’s clear you have a point you’re trying to make without much regard for what’s being talked about. Have a day! 😀

  11. Kimi

    If I could, I would trade my 5’4 height with her so she could have more relationship options and I could more easily reach things on the top shelves. Nothing is worse than having a tall roommate stick your things in the cupboard over the fridge. Nothing should be stuck in that cupboard unless you are around 6’5 and can actually reach that area.

    1. asmodai27

      I am a couple inches taller than you, but found that stools make for a nice substitute to being tall on many practical occasion such as reaching in high cupboards, while being relatively short has no substitute when it comes to getting in small spaces (think airplanes for example), so I am glad that I am not much taller!

      1. Kimi

        I always wanted to be 5’8 because I thought that was a good middle height between my dad (6’0) and my mom (5’6), without it being too much. I didn’t even hit my mom’s height, while my sister is very close to the height I wanted to be. I never wanted to be super tall, but I think that those 2-3 extra inches would make a lot of difference in reach.
        I also find that some of it has to do with where your height is. My dad has mostbof it in his legs, which make plane rides horrible.

    2. Nathan

      I’m 6’4″ and things on bottom shelves are the worst. I literally sit on the floor of I need to go through the fridge for much time. At one apartment I lived in, I would sometimes bring a chair into the bathroom so I could sit down to see the top of my head in the mirror.

      Being average height or moderately tall seems like it would be great.

      1. Throwatron

        Yeah, nobody talks about the parts of being tall that suck! There are obvious advantages, but holy shit is it a pain in the ass to be huge.

      2. Sirksome

        Shhh. Don’t give away our weaknesses! I-I mean I often laugh at the short peasants when I can reach the good top shelf food at the grocery store!

  12. Cholma

    If your man isn’t tall enough to reach the top shelf in the kitchen above the stove, what’s the point?

    1. Leorale

      Get a stepladder, and enjoy your independence

      1. Clif

        Give me a tall enough stepladder and a sufficiently long grabber and I will reach the stars. – Archimedes probably.

    2. anon

      i mean unless you cook/buy a lot, seems inefficient to stock something on a place that’d be hard to reach with out assistance ,wehtehr it’s a person or a stepping chair

    3. Mark

      That’s where you put things like the bundt pan that you never use but can’t bear to throw away.

  13. Newlland(Henryvolt)

    Jacob you’re not helping let her have atleast one or two moments where her true self can fucking vent.

    1. Clif

      He’s not. I thought he was kind of encouraging her.

  14. Davus

    If I were Sarah and I was frustrated with a lack of tall people to date, I would just instead try to find the shortest person I could, for the Irony.

    1. Kimi

      Reminds me of the really tall gal that did a video giving adult guys piggy back rides.

      1. Miri

        Eh, me giving guys piggybacks as a 5’1″-ish teen was probably funnier. But no video evidence ?

        1. Kimi

          I did that once with some of my cousins back when I was still a very skinny 110lbs. They were younger than me, but still getting close to my height, so I found it hilarious. I think my knees would mutiny now, unfortunately.

  15. darkoneko

    “So Jacob you wouldn’t happen to have other tall friends ?”

  16. BBCC

    Sorry, dude, YOU told her to pace herself.

  17. audkitten

    I’m happy that they’re finally having a real conversation. I hope they end up as friends, real friends. I don’t think they would be good together in a relationship. I think I’m in the minority, but Sarah deserves better than Jacob. He knew why she invited him and snuck off with Lucy anyway. (I think Jacob and Lucy are good together as a fling, but he’s shown that he’s inconsiderate and Lucy also deserves better.) Don’t get me wrong, Sarah also has her problems, but I think this storyline shows that she’s trying.

    Also, I’m shorter than Lucy and my boyfriend is taller than Jacob. I’m one of the short girls stealing away the tall boys. Shhhhhh

    1. Nono

      Jacob didn’t owe Sarah anything though. Like just because you know someone’s into you doesn’t mean you have to go out with them.

      He and Lucy connected, and there they went.

      And I’m a Sarah fan.

      1. Queezle

        I am not sure because I am awful at reading these things, but it did seem to me as if he was encouraging Sarah’s crush the one moment and getting with Lucy the next, and that seems like an unkind thing to do.
        He still did not owe Sarah a relationship or anything but I see why she is hurt.

        1. NubeTrasnochada

          More than encouraging it seem like he was acknowledging it and giving her a chance to win him over, he strongly implied his feelings weren’t there but was willing to hear her out but she fumbled badly while Lucy inadvertently caught his eye. Sad but ultimately he didn’t own her more than that, and Lucy seem a far better match for him tbh.

          Hopefully Sara can find a better match for herself, personally watching drool over Jacob has been painful from beginning to end, I love them separately but together they are both kinda tiring to see. Sara gets more awkward and he gets preacher.

    2. BarerMender

      I think you mean, “Ah ha ha! [Flip double birds.] Eat this, tall girls!”

    3. Mark

      I’m not sure why people are treating Jacob taking to Lucy as a decision. It seems to me like one of those moments when emotion tells reason to take a hike and brooks no argument. Happily it has, so far, worked out well for the two of them.

  18. IntangibleMatter

    Sarah’s true villain arc is gonna start in a few years (real-time) and later this week (strip time)

  19. C.T. Phipps

    She’s got a type. Nothing weird there.

  20. Kimi

    I find it interesting that all the people so far talking about being taller than a husband (or a family member that is), it is all less than an inch. I wonder how common it is for there to be 6-12 inches difference or even more than a foot, with the woman being taller?

    1. DailyBrad

      It’s not common, per se, but it’s not unheard of. Maybe an obvious example, but there’s Peter Dinklage and his wife, who is about a foot and an inch taller than him.

    2. Leorale

      I’ve got an aunt and uncle like that.

      Her family kept being annoying about it and she was like, “he’s handsome and kind and smart and treats me like gold, and yes, he’s short. You’d rather I found somebody ugly, dumb, mean, and tall?”

      1. Clif

        And for a real zinger, she could add in “like you did.”

        Unless it’s a guy, in which case she could use “like your wife did.”

        1. Leorale

          BURN

    3. Quiley

      Yeah, I don’t love how much shaming there is here for a tall woman wanting a taller boyfriend. Notably, Sarah isn’t saying anything that states that short men are inherently undesirable, she’s just stating a preference, and yet so many people are just flat-out condemning her for it.

      Why is it tall women’s responsibility to push the societal norms of the woman being smaller than the man in a relationship? Are there even any other examples of a tall woman short man relationship in this comic?? Idk, it feels kind of like how people get mad at trans people for being gender-conforming, like why are you demanding the person who is insecure about how they don’t match the societal standard to be the trailblazer in fighting it.

  21. DailyBrad

    Dude, Sarah, you’re in Indiana. You can find basketall players.

    1. anon

      i mean, unless sarah’s wearing shoes that are making her slightly taller, i don’t think she’s looking that much shorter than jacob, feels like they could do a compromise to find a ‘muscly’ guy that’s /as/ tall

      LOL well, i dont’ think we’ve seen her attend any games, even lucy and walky has attended more so who knows maybe she’d hit it off with a player but while not everyone is, i’d expect someone willing to be on a basketball team or scholarship is probably a little bit more extroverted versus doing low key dates or so

    2. Nono

      I think she also likes ‘broad’ in addition to ‘tall’, which is less that of basketball players.

      Maybe more football.

      1. Needfuldoer

        Is this how Tony gets written into DoA?

        1. NickG

          He’s been around since Chapter 1 (turning Billie Down in ‘Card), he just not around much.

        2. Needfuldoer

          Yeah, he’s had a couple cameos and a bonus strip with Beef.

          I mean written in as a recurring guest star.

  22. Pocky

    These straight kids just ain’t right; I tell you what.

    1. Aura

      You can say that again :/

    2. anon

      i mean, you’re not wrong but not like there aren’t equally shallow gay ppl too

  23. Queezle

    Sarah, you do not have “no other options”. If you limit yourself to dating people taller than you, that is 100% self-imposed.

    Apart from that, can not really blame her from being hurt. Or upset with Jacob. While it is debatable if Lucy knew Sarah liked him “that way”, Jacob absolutely did. To me, it kind of seemed as if he encouraged her and a few minutes later got with someone else.

    1. Jeremiah

      I don’t think if is that debatable that Lucy knew, he seemed genuinely surprised when Jennifer told her and we didn’t saw any evidence that she did

      1. Queezle

        I agree with you, I really do not think she knew. I just have read so many comments somehow reading Lucy as a manipulator that I am not sure if my take on Lucy (that she is mostly a nice kid) is the correct one. Still like her through.

        1. Jeremiah

          Your take is the correct one trust me on that, some commenters are just really weird about Lucy and you shouldn’t trust them what they think about her.

        2. Throwatron

          Nice kids can absolutely be manipulators. In fact, the first thing every manipulator tries to do, is enforce the viewpoint to everybody they meet, that they are a nice person. First impressions are great, that way; once you’ve decided a person is nice, you read all their future actions through that lens, and therefore, it takes you longer to maybe notice “wait, this whole time, they’ve just been awful to everybody, and I only ever hear their side of it!”

        3. Jeremiah

          Good thing that doesn’t apply to Lucy at all!

        4. Throwatron

          Thing is, I do think that ultimately, Lucy is a good egg.

          But, y’know, you’re also not tellin’ a lie. She is manipulative.

    2. anon

      i would think her issues would be with ppl who get along with her as opposed to something as ‘shallow’ as height unless she had issues for *specifically* being ‘fetishized’ in the past before for being like a ‘tall amazon’ the same way joyce ‘objectified’ sal

    3. Serendipity

      People are attracted to what they’re attracted to.

      1. Queezle

        That is fair, I suppose. I really do not understand “attraction” as such, maybe I am too ace for that. I still that the way Sarah expresses herself here is pretty shitty, at the same time it is understandable that she is upset.

      2. Mark

        Indeed, there can be clues, there can be patterns, but there is no logic.

  24. Lingo

    Tony has entered the chat!

  25. Yumi

    Recently someone told me about how her mom keeps pressuring her to join the local tall group (this is a thing) to find a boyfriend. This is how her mom and dad met.

    1. anon

      i guess it depends on where you live but feels kinda weird for it to be an insecurity unless one of you has dwarfism to where it’d look sus at a first look/ from far away

  26. Nono

    Maybe Jacob really is my giant nerd boyfriend.

  27. Bruno

    She’s completely wrong but I’ll give it to her. She’s being vulnerable and honest and she’s working through it. She’s making an effort here.

  28. John Campbell

    She could try dating two Walkertons in a trenchcoat?

    1. Clif

      How they got two Walkertons to fit into the same trenchcoated I never knew.

      1. ValdVin

        It starts by one of them adding coconuts and seaweed to his natural looks.

      2. John Campbell

        Walky sits on Sal’s shoulders.

        1. Throwatron

          Well, yeah. Net zero chance Walky can carry Sal around, but we know Sal is fukken jacked.

    2. anon

      i mean even one would be too much annoyance/getting under her skin but i imagine if walky was taller than joe/jacob i don’t think he’d be that much more ‘tolerable’ to sarah tho she’d prolly understand why lucy thirsted for him to begin with XD

  29. UrsulaDavina

    Taller or shorter it really isn’t a sticking point with me if some one is taller they can my cat off the top shelves if there shorter then they can get my cat out of the cupboard. All that matters is they love my cat enough to remove her from places she shouldn’t be and they get scratched that’s true love.

    1. Kimi

      I wish that I could upvote you. I really do think that personality and lifestyle choices (like pets, what you like to do for fun, etc) matter so much more than physical attributes.

      1. Mark

        Thing is: personality and lifestyle choices can’t be instantly sensed at a distance; physical attributes can. One must let someone get close enough before discovering those inner qualities. Like it or not, we’re wired to use physical attributes as an initial filter. Overcoming that takes, first, determination and then, energy.

        1. Nymph

          And thirdly – a desire to overcome it.

          There’s nothing wrong with wanting someone you click with physically AND personality wise.

        2. Mano308gts

          As a local member of the tall squad, and a dude…

          You can go right the heck over somewhere else with your comments about wanting tall as a “preference”. You’re waaaaaay too invested in this, and frankly, anyone- anywhere- that has such a unidimensional ‘preference’ sucks. It’s obnoxious, it always was obnoxious, and you sitting here trying to justify it is equally as obnoxious.

  30. APersonAmI

    I’m glad she’s being honest.

    … Her height hangups are uncomfortably sexist, though.

    1. Nono

      It’s just a preference.

      Is she locking herself out of some options? Sure. But if she’s comfortable in that height is a turn-on for her, that’s fine.

    2. Aura

      Yeah, this is… not great

    3. Jeremiah

      Her finding taller people hot is sexist??

      1. Sirksome

        Possibly? There is a rather negative connotation to associating a man’s attractiveness to his height in the same way as judging a women’s worth by her weight or bust size or really any physical trait for women is also frowned upon. That being said there’s nothing wrong with having preferences as long as you try not to discriminate.

        1. Yumi

          Yeah, preferences don’t make you bad, but they can be born out of the problematic notions of the society we live in, and they’re also not above reproach just because nobody has to date anybody.

        2. Mark

          Nah, everybody knows that only men can be sexists.

        3. Jeremiah

          I mean kinda, men definitely aren’t the ones that suffer from sexism.(Though it might be you working under a different definition of that word that I am)

        4. Nathan

          Depending on your definition of sexism, that’s not strictly true.

          https://www.statista.com/statistics/187127/number-of-occupational-injury-deaths-in-the-us-by-gender-since-2003/

        5. Yotomoe

          Personally i find it a bit reductive to assume any “ism” can’t or doesn’t effect different groups. Certainly some people benefit more from it than others but most isms cause tertiary harm to people as well.
          Ie. Patriarchy reinforcing gender roles that negatively affect women like forcing them to be homemakers or not allowing them to be present in high positions may also affect men, such as a rejection of expressing your emotions and tying your value to your job or position.
          To your point I think it depends on the context the word is used but I definitely feel like you could claim a woman is behaving sexist. Or at the very least is saying things that reinforce sexist ideals. (Not necessarily saying sarah is being sexist here.)

        6. thejeff

          Yeah, men suffer from sexism, but they suffer from the same kind of sexism women do. From being pushed into gendered roles and taught to behave in gender stereotyped ways.
          The roles women are pushed into are more limited and often traditionally under the control of the men around them, so it’s harsher and more obvious, but men who break out of male roles don’t escape.

        7. Mark

          Sorry, I forgot the ‘/s’.

      2. Jon

        Some people are dead-set on the man being taller than the woman in a hetero relationship. Push hard enough on that conviction and you’ll likely unearth a lot of “it’s a man’s job to be strong and big and protect HIS WOMAN” and all that bullshit.

        There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to date someone taller than you but this particular one also happens to come with cultural baggage

        1. Nono

          That wouldn’t be sexism though, it would be toxic masculinity.

          And I think people are projecting a lot over Sarah just saying she likes tall guys.

          What’s next, is liking body hair also bad because it’s considered a symbol of masculinity and some people can’t grow it?

        2. Doki

          Toxic masculinity is a subset of sexism. Sexism is just a broad term for bigotry or stereotyping based on sex/gender, which rigidly upholding gender roles 100% falls under.

    4. Taffy

      Maybe she just wants to be picked up and jackhammered by a huge dude and it’s not any deeper than that.

      1. Adept

        Deeper, eh?

      2. Yotomoe

        Maybe a little bit deeper than that, when she’s up for it.

      3. NGPZ

        If anything she shouldn’t frame her general desires too tightly.

        This isn’t about wanting Jacob insomuch as envying Lucy and her magic charm, Sarah more than anything needs to WIN.

    5. Tan

      I feel like Sarah is getting a lot of shit that she would not be getting if she were bi and expressed a preference for both taller-than-her men and taller-than-her women.

      She has not, to the best of my knowledge, judged any other woman for dating a man shorter than them. Though thinking on it I’m not sure we even have an example of such a relationship.. Has there been one? Walky seems to be taller than Amber, Dorothy, and Lucy, if barely. Danny’s taller than Sal. Asher’s taller than Jennifer. The one time they appear together, Carl’s taller than Dana. Jason’s taller than Ruth. I think even all the parent pairs we’ve seen, the husband’s taller than the wife…. I think I’m out of het pairings to check.

      I guess Linda’s taller than Dean McCartney, though that relationship is long in the past and never seen on-panel

      1. Rogue 7

        Yesterday’s news, but…

        She’s judging Lucy and other shorter girls on-panel for getting with tall guys. I’m all for allowing people their preferences, but she’s absolutely going beyond that.

  31. Reaver

    And it doubles back to how she just wants to be railed by a big guy, specifically the guy she has been asked to not objectify….by said guy.

    1. ValdVin

      Sarah simply wants justice.

      Orbiting railguy justice.

      1. Rogue 7

        I’ll take that over obligatory railgun justice, which i think is just Judge Dredd.

    2. NGPZ

      Yeah, the problem ain’t her preference but openly fetishizing someone else.

      Fetishizing is not the same thing as appreciation, nor is it the same as respect.

      Jacob succinctly summarizes Sarah’s true rationale in the last panel — Sarah sees smiling and feigning a sociable attitude as a tool she can use to get her way in an attempt to emulate Lucy’s success. Her reasoning is basically:

      “Lucy ain’t any better than me, and it took her only a single night to get Jacob after I’ve been trying at it for so fucking long.

      It MUST be her charm and her smile. If it works for her, it gotta work for me.”

      The fact alone that any gambit like this denies self-love and self-respect means that any design Sarah had for herself and Jacob is one that is almost guaranteed to fail.

  32. Sirksome

    Low key this comic may need some more dudes with speaking roles in it. Not necessarily tall guys, but clearly the market for eligible bachelors is pretty slim. Everyone with a named cast credit is taken except Booster who maybe floats but I don’t know if Sarah is down like that with the nb’s. Where all da boyz at?

    1. Jeremiah

      Honestly I take that over how a lot of media having the opposite issue of too few female characters.

      1. Nymph

        Did you see that meme about someone running a D&D premade campaign where they swapped all the genders (which led to there being only a single male character, an unnamed blacksmith)? DM’s players all thought there must be some massive conspiracy and that there being so many women and no men at all meant there were men being murdered and hidden away.

        I just found that interesting.

        1. Jeremiah

          Yeah and it is the true.

    2. HueSatLight

      Arnold doesn’t have any character flaws, that’s why he’s not in the strip much.

  33. Yotomoe

    How can he be a king if I can snatch his crown right off the top of his head.

    1. Clif

      By putting him on a pedestal?

      1. Throwatron

        golden comment right here

    2. Reltzik

      Historically, most kings have had to worry about that.

  34. Steelbright

    I actually like this dynamic between them. Jacob is still interested in being her friend, and he does actually care about her even when she’s kind of obnoxious and objectifies him. But just because he cares doesn’t mean he won’t call her out when she says something that’s a little too much. And Sarah is not wrong to try, or to vent her feelings; I’m glad she feels she can do that with him. I hope they stay good friends.

  35. Yotomoe

    My Curse is that I vastly vastly love taller girls. At the least girls that are my height. Height makes right!

    1. Clif

      That’s way more efficient than two wrongs or three lefts.

    2. Dave

      This is exactly why being 5’6″ is a blessing; I have so many friends with similar tastes but who were cursed with high vantage points. The view is great down here ?

  36. Aura

    Today, Sarah is not my favourite 🙁

  37. ESM

    Man, there are a lot of short kings in here who seem real mad at Sarah for having a type, but I promise you if you get out of the apple you live in you can still find a girl who appreciates your portability.

    1. Nono

      Yeah, I’m not gonna hate on her for having a type. Like, Joyce’s crushes have all been men that are significantly taller and nobody’s saying she’s got issues.

      Some people are into chest hair. I can’t grow an inch, it’s genetics. Doesn’t mean people are being prejudiced against me, I just don’t fit their preferences it’s fine.

      1. Sirksome

        I think our society just sees openly talking about preferences as a sort of objectification. It’s like leering or catcalling. Polite society doesn’t condone it. Plus someone saying they don’t like a trait you might have always hurts.

        1. Nono

          I think it’s very context specific. Yeah don’t do creepy stuff like catcalling or openly staring at people in public. But that doesn’t mean you can’t ever express preferences ever. In a club? Talking with friends? On a dating profile? That’s fine (within reason obviously, get out with that ‘no fats/no Asians/etc.’ stuff).

          That’s also excluding that some people like being objectified to a certain degree. You like showing off your muscles or your curves? Then you might accept it to a degree, again, based on context.

          Sarah hasn’t like come out and told a short guy ‘I don’t want to date you because you’re short’, she’s just basically said ‘man I like tall guys, and it sucks that it’s harder for me to find one taller than me’.

        2. Kimi

          I also think it can really easily get into the “I really didn’t want to know” territory too. I think most people would rather not have a discussion about someone’s foot preference/fettish, or worse.

      2. Yotomoe

        I think there’s an aspect of sexual attraction that, while it isn’t a choice, is still frowned on when it’s treated like a hard “no”. It’s very rude to say, for example
        “I don’t want to date someone fat” or “I don’t want to date someone with small breasts” or “I don’t like people with this particular hair color”
        It’s less about having a preference and more about writing someone off completely because they’re not your “type”. Do to the way people are often objectified because of traits beyond their control it’s kinda seen rude to openly state them as if it’s a perceived flaw. Especially if it echoes societal standards of beauty.
        It’s why there’s such a push of “date people for their PERSONALITY not their looks”

        1. Nathan

          This is really well put.

        2. thejeff

          That’s a fair assessment, but it also has problems. It leads people to describe their preferences in less absolute terms, even when they’re not really.

          Sarah here’s at a point where she’s venting and being open about what she wants (to a point – she’s still focusing on the physical) and she’s been torn apart in the comments because of it. If she hid how strong that preference was, then it’s be more acceptable, but maybe less real?

        3. Yotomoe

          I think in this case it’s about presentation. Sarah already stated she wouldn’t date Walky in reference to his height in another strip and i don’t recall the comments being as up in arms about it.

        4. Sirksome

          Walky is an interesting case for Sarah because she did acknowledge that he was “hot” and used his height as a deflection. At least that’s how I read it. I think the truth is that Walky just isn’t compatible with Sarah and she knows that but height discrimination was the simplest justification to articulate. I think she would be open to dating a shorter guy but not one like Walky.

    2. anon

      Tbf she’s just talking about like hookups (which might be awkward for jacob b/c he specifically didn’t wanna be sexualized despite moving quickly with lucy), but the’ datingpool’ might be a bit wider. (although it’d have to be with sarah’s personality even if she’s willing to ‘change’ b/c holding back your snarkiness seems like something you shouldn’t have to hide from a partner versus it being like verbal abuse or so, tehn again Ruth is still with jason so who knows)

  38. Jeremiah

    Honestly such a relief everyone is focusing on the height thing rather that anything I would care about.

    1. anon

      i am surprised she’s suddenly talking about height (well it’s her ‘lust’ talking more or less) versus “emotionally connecting with was a waste” or “well, i can’t imagine being able to connect with anyone else as well, so i’m not gonna bother”

  39. HueSatLight

    Height isn’t as important as finding someone you’re comfortable being around. Bonus for Arnold, if he’s attracted to taller women.

    1. gamtos

      Wait what the ass, Arnold is a background character in like 3 strips, none featuring Sarah. How utterly specific is your ship???

      1. KM

        I admire his dedication to shipping Arnold with everyone lol

        Real talk though I also enjoyed seeing shortpacked!Arnold snark at malaya

        1. HueSatLight

          Dorothy+Arnold was a fool’s ship. There’s no draw for Arnold. Dorothy is just his half-bath-mate’s ex, who is kind of intense and also feeling lost.

          Sarah + Arnold though, that’s a genius’ ship. They’re simpatico. They’d start as snark pals, but sooner or later, Ken would ask him, “what’s up with Sarah?” or Joyce would ask her, “what’s up with Arnold?” and they’d get to thinking.

      2. HueSatLight

        He’s been in some bonus comics too, personality in those seems the same as his Shortpacked personality.

    2. Nymph

      “Height isn’t as important as finding someone you’re comfortable being around.”

      Yes. But maybe she wants both? Crazy thought, I know.

      1. Throwatron

        It definitely sounds to me as if her man’s tallness is, in fact, a core component of her feeling comfortable around him. I don’t think it’s purely sexual, I think she’s just that insecure about her femininity.

        She’s tall, she’s a POC, she’s not outwardly effeminate or personable, she’s pursuing a degree that is generally seen as unfeminine…these are all factors that some people in society, would possibly see as “de-feminizing” her, or otherwise could easily cause a woman to have to deal with insecurity around whether others see her as feminine.

        Like, we live in a world where a damn woman got transvestigated by internet trolls, because she didn’t wear her make-up while competing in a sport that involves both women punching each other in the face, as hard as possible. Society’s aesthetic standards are crazy, and it gets worse when you are a woman who has any non-traditionally-masculine qualities, hobbies, or pursuits…or even simply are guilty of being suspect, for innate features, like being “too tall,” or just “non-white.”

  40. anon

    i mean i’m sure there’s tall guys she hasn’t noticed if not ppl from other colleges lol.

  41. crys

    I love that Sarah pluralizes Lucy to Lucies

  42. HueSatLight

    When my niece and nephew were little, they were pretty skeptical when I told them their mom was taller than their dad.

  43. Derek

    this comic should come with a metric version because right now Sarah sure is just saying numbers that don’t mean anything to me.

    1. Nono

      An inch is 2.5cm. A foot is 30cm.

      5’7” is about 167.5cm, 6’3” is about 187.5cm.

      1. gamtos

        An inch is exactly 2.54cm, not a great number to casually round down, especially if you then conjure up highly specific numbers like 167.5

        You’re off by about an inch in both cases, 170 and 190 would be more accurate and also would give a better margin of error.

      2. jflb96

        Yeah, by the time you have about 70 of them, that 0.4mm you chopped off there adds up. 5’7 is about 170cm, 6’3 is about 190cm.

        Also, you can’t give a 4 s.f. final answer when your input values only had 2 s.f. each.

        1. Mano308gts

          That completely depends on whether you are doing math or science. XD

    2. StClair

      She’s wishing the short girls would hook up with guys in the 1.7m range and leave the 2.0s for her.

      1. Nono

        2.0s are like 7’, that would be a pretty narrow minority.

        1. gamtos

          Welcome to the Netherlands.

        2. Kimi

          It does make me wonder if the school has a basketball team.

        3. Mark

          This is Indiana. Of course they have a basketball team. A school without a basketball team…that’s like talking about dry water.

        4. Taffy

          They’re called the Hoosiers, apparently. It’s a nickname for people who come from Indiana, so it’s basically like a team from Florida being called the Gators, or one from Illinois being called the Meth Heads.

        5. Mark

          Mike Royko wrote an interesting essay speculating on the origins of “Hoosier.”

        6. Taffy

          Everyone knows it’s because of Indiana’s thriving BDSM scene. It’s a colloquial corruption of “Who’s yer mommy/daddy”, a popular phrase during spanktype activities.

        7. Clif

          The more you know.

        8. Throwatron

          You’re way off, it’s about 6’6″, if you’re rounding it to an integer. Lots of tall people are almost 2m tall, very few people on Earth are even close to 7′ tall.

    3. Sirksome

      Sarah likes guys in the ballpark of 180cm’s and up.

      1. gamtos

        190, actually.

    4. anon

      5’8 is 1.7 metere. tho there is a “6 feet tall only guys” on like tinder as a meme or so, idk if outside of the US ppl make an equivalent or so

      1. Adept

        The ”shorter than six foot need not apply” thing is apparently 180cm and taller thing over here. I don’t know if it’s actually a thing, as it’s something I mostly see men complaining about, not women expressing as a preference.

    5. AGV/Ruby

      According to my calculator, 5’8″ is 1,77m and 6’3″ is 1,92m.

    6. Thing2

      Huzzah. gimme metric.
      Inches and ounces come from the same word!
      Yeah, we can all go off and do calculations, but it spoils the flow of the comic.
      I like my partner’s to be within plus or minus 10 Potrzebie of my height, and for them to weigh over 7 dingbats.

      1. Da Boy

        Potrzebie? Do you need help with something?

        1. Mark

          Another Mad magazine fan!

        2. Da Boy

          Sadly I have no idea what that is XD Potrzebie is just a Polish word and I was confused by it appearing randomly.

        3. Mark

          A humor magazine from way back. They went through a phase of using words unfamiliar to (most of) their readership for surprise value, or something like that. “Axolotl” was another favorite.

        4. Da Boy

          Oh that’s quite fun XD

  44. AGV/Ruby

    Beautiful facades can hardly cover up ugly insides. I would know, I work behind one of the most beautiful facades in the world.

    In all seriousness, I feel bad for Sarah, but repressing the feelings won’t make them disappear. At least she’s talking it out with Jacob, buuut I don’t know if that’ll resolve much tbh.

    1. Archieve

      yeah, and instead of having any frustration with Jacob she’s redirecting her anger onto Lucy here.

    2. anon

      maybe she can find someone ‘just as bad’ as her (not that i think she’s super bad , enjoyable in fiction but irl i suppose i wouldn’t rly try to get closer even if we had mutual acquaintances/keep my distance), like how Booster said amber and walky were ‘diametrically opposed garbage’ or whatever

  45. ian livs

    Short kings are fantastic and I will hear no slander against them

    1. ian livs

      (But for real, the societal idea that the guy “has” to be taller in m/f relationships is weird and gross)

      1. Nymph

        Sure. But Sarah is allowed to personally hold that opinion about her own relationships.

    2. anon

      tbf it’s an attitude too rather than them just being shorter b/c i’m sure despite it not being as common it could easily lead to them also being objectified too

    3. Nymph

      Not wanting to date them isn’t slander. It’s just a preference.

  46. Taffy

    I like that she’s still openly hot for him.

    1. anon

      i mean it’d be kinda hard to hide considering joyce tried to set them up even if it ended up with jacob kissing joyce

    2. Nymph

      Super duper agree. Sarah being open about her feelings is healthy and good for her.

    3. Dave

      Didn’t Jacob tell Sarah from their very first conversation that he’s not into being objectified? Sarah continuing to talk about him as if he’s a walking talking dick dispenser is definitely helping justify Jacob’s reaction to her sudden personality shift. Like, talking to a supposed friend about how disappointing it is that they didn’t get a chance to fuck them would be creepy coming from Joe and it’s just as off-putting from Sarah.

      1. Taffy

        That’s all well and good, but I like this behavior from Sarah.

      2. Throwatron

        People have just kind of skipped that Jacob is the precise sort of person who sees somebody who needs help, and thinks, “it’s my moral obligation to help them, if I can.”

        Yeah, Sarah has been really creepy and annoying to Jacob. But, he sees her as a person with serious issues, who is hurting and struggling, and he’s identified that she’s badly un-socialized and high-strung as hell. So, when she says something immensely creepy, weird, or stupid…he lets it the fuck go, because he knows this is hard for her, and she isn’t good at it.

        Treating her that way is his personal choice, and he’s chosen to put up with the fact that she is obviously going to constantly mess up, when she’s trying to employ this skill set that she has never had the opportunity to develop.

        If he was at the gym with a guy who was new, he wouldn’t make fun of them for using beginner weights, either. He’d encourage them, validate their choice to get healthier, and give some gentle notes on improving their form. Because that’s just the sort of kind, nurturing person that he is.

      3. thejeff

        I kind of agree with Dave here. Jacob will put up with it because he knows even this is hard for her, but he’s still not into being objectified like this.

        I also still think Sarah’s not being really open here, because I think it’s not just Jacob’s body she’s attracted to, but that’s far easier for her to talk about.

        1. Stiney

          She says specifically that he’s kind in the “list of positive attributes” in panel 2; she definitely is into more than just her body.

  47. Doopyboop

    It’s not wrong for people to have preferences for who they’re interested in and I’d argue that insisting otherwise is honestly an argument against consent. Some people prefer taller partners, some shorter. Some prefer certain eyes/hair colors. You don’t have to agree with it, but it should be respected so long as it’s like, reasonable, you know? Because the alternative is “yeah, I know you don’t want to date this person, but you’re making me uncomfortable and upset, therefore how you feel doesn’t matter so you should do it anyway.”

    1. Nono

      Gosh yes because while there’s merit for ‘don’t judge people solely on physical traits’ too much and it goes into ‘she should date me even if she’s not attracted to me physically!’.

      1. Doopyboop

        Amen!

    2. Bash

      The bad part isn’t Sarah preferring tall men. The bad part is saying that Lucy shouldn’t date Jacob because Sarah should have dibs on the tall guys. It reduces Jacob down to a physical attribute and denies him agency, something he is explicitly uncomfortable with.

      1. Doopyboop

        I can agree to that.

      2. Da Boy

        To me it feels more like Sarah is being bitterly self-deprecating, seeing herself being taller than most men as “They would never want to date me” so her only options are guys taller than her and those are few and far between.

        1. Throwatron

          I don’t agree with this at all, honestly. I think it is her naked, unfiltered preference, and I fully assume it’s about her needing to feel feminine relative to her partner, and she won’t “feel like a woman” next to somebody who causes her to feel like a beanpole.

          Which is immature, and shallow. It’s not her partner’s responsibility to naturally mitigate her own internal neuroses, it’s hers to grow as a person and gain confidence in herself.

          But, just because it is those two things, does not mean that it also shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for her, if she can’t handle that situation. If she’s gonna be in a relationship, it probably should be with somebody who doesn’t cause her to subjectively feel wrong, or badly about herself, even if her feeling that way isn’t intellectually reasonable. She’s still the one stuck feeling it.

          And, crucially, if she were to try to just white-knuckle through the bad feelings that come from her dating a short guy, and having to feel unfeminine and insecure as a result, he’s the one who’s going to have to end up dealing with it, and giving her continual validation to soothe that feeling. Not her.

          So yeah, she definitely shouldn’t date somebody, who is going to cause her problems, because of aspects of himself that he can’t change or control. Especially when it would ultimately end up being his constant responsibility to reassure her, and especially when he may be just as insecure about being shorter than her, as she is insecure about being taller than him.

          I’m scared I’m not being clear, here, but I probably am.

      3. Nymph

        This is a comic. The final panel is a punchline. That’s how it works.

        1. Bash

          It’s just my view on why Jacob had an issue with what she said.

        2. Nymph

          Fair enough, have a great day.

    3. anon

      it is a bit of tonal whiplash for her to be like “i’m gonna be more accepting” and then talking about how “only 3 guys i know are physically attractive to me”

      1. Doopyboop

        It isn’t a crime for her to not be attracted to many people.

      2. Kimi

        I am giving her a bit of leeway here since she is a taller gal (don’t recall her exact height), and specifically only mentions guys taller than her. At her age, it is very possible that she deals with guys who are insecure about being shorter than her or get harrassed too much by their friends about dating a taller girl.
        From what I read about studies online, a study in Britain found that woman were taller than men that they were married to in 4.1 percent of the cases (6.5 percent of cases if it was randomized, so the actual number is less than what would be expected), and 3.8 percent of thr cases in the US in 2009 (7.8 percent randomized). Due to the difference between the random and actual numbers, it seems like humans in general tend to skew towards a husband being taller than the wife outside of general height differences. How much of that is just general biological preference and how much is societal pressure, might might never know.

        1. Mark

          Not to mention that the average woman is about 5″ / 14cm. shorter than the average man (in the US) so random matches would produce quite a few more in which the man was the taller of the two.

        2. Kimi

          Hence the 92.2% husband taller than wife when randomized, 96.2% for the actual numbers. It is uncommon to see, which might be why it draws more comments and attention.

      3. thejeff

        Kind of tonal whiplash, but on the other hand it’s also more open and honest.

        Though, on the gripping hand, she’s still talking only about physical attraction, which she’s been better at than any kind of emotional openness.

    4. Amelie Wikström

      You’re allowed to have preferences, but you have to understand a) not everyone needs to know about what class of person turns your engine, b) your preferences aren’t the basis for universal standards and especially c) you can’t dictate what other people should and shouldn’t like. (Hi Sarah!)

      1. Nono

        Which is funny because there are people here going ‘why do people think height preferences even matter? So stupid.’ as if how they feel about height differences should be a universal standard.

        1. Nymph

          YEP

      2. thejeff

        Not everyone needs to know, but she’s told exactly one person, who has been encouraging her to open up to him.

        Cut her some slack. She’s venting here. That’s a good thing. Even if she’s not really being fair to Lucy.

    5. Doopyboop

      I will also freely admit that part of the reason I am a bit more defensive about this is because I’ve had numerous instances of men hitting on me, asking me out, trying to date me, and upon being given a no, always hitting me with that classic “what, are you a lesbian or something?” shit. I am a biromantic ace person, so I can find women and men both aesthetically attractive, and indeed, have in the past. I also do not really desire a relationship. My issue with the “oh, so you’re a lesbian” response is because for these men (and specifically these men I have experienced), the very idea that someone could just not be attracted to them is fucking unbelievable.

      OBVIOUSLY, the only reason I didn’t wanna date these men must be because I’m a lesbian, for if I were attracted to men any bit at all, SURELY I would throw myself down upon their feet and enthusiastically beg them to date me.

      Also, at my last job, I had an incident where a coworker kept bugging me about how another coworker had a crush on me, and would keep trying to persuade me to date him for no other reason than “well you seem lonely, and he likes you, I think you two would be cute!”. It got to a point where others joined in on this ‘inside joke’, including some of my supervisors, with the original culprit even suggesting she could tell the coworker with the crush that I liked him back (when I didn’t) to get the ball rolling. The only reason this shit finally stopped is because at the end of a dinner with my coworkers, one of my supervisors saw me heading to my car and said “Huh, I’m surprised you didn’t go home with *coworker who has a crush on me*”, to which I finally exploded and told him to leave me the fuck alone, that I wasn’t interested, and I was never going to “go home” with that coworker. It literally escalated to that point because my own coworkers ignored my preferences and feelings because they figured they knew better than me what I like and want.

  48. Just_iDD

    I never understand that people will remain single over criteria that the other person actually cannot change. I’ve alwas dumped partners when they’ve chosen to lie. That’s something they could change if they made a commitment to do so. when someone shows you who they are, believe them.

    1. Nymph

      Because it’s important to them. Remaining single isn’t some death sentence, if someone wants their preferences met in a partner and have no interest in dating outside that preference, that’s a personal choice and it’s weird you care.

    2. Taffy

      Okay, and when someone tells me they’re 4’7″ I’ll believe them.

  49. MAC089

    Sarah has a point. Tall girls go for guys taller than them, but short girls seem to set their sights on the same ones.

    1. thejeff

      Because tall is generally considered attractive for guys. (Not universally of course, but broadly speaking.) Not so many inches taller than me, but tall in general.

      1. Throwatron

        There’s a reason it’s literally a meme, that a 5’11” guy is a manlet, but a 6’0″ guy is a turbo-chad, or whatever. When most people meet on dating profiles these days, the aesthetic component of that number in the front being just 1 higher, is as important as the aesthetic component of your local Wal-Mart selling every item for $4.99.

        There’s really no noticeable difference between a 5’11” guy, and a 6′ guy. But one markets better, in a situation where people are e-shopping for them, through the lens of their innate biases.

  50. GUIGUI

    I suspect Sarah had a few bad experiences with men who felt insecure being shorter than her.

    1. Da Boy

      Yeah, she sounds less “I only want tall dudes” and more like “No guy shorter than me would want to date me”.

    2. Nicoleandmaggie

      Short kings are great. Guys who are insecure about their height suck. (My parents have that height difference—father is 5’2”—and I think this is a reason my sister and I both married tall men, despite being short ourselves.)

  51. Francoinblanco

    We live in times when separating food so that it doesn’t touch each other on the plate is completely understandable, but having preferences as to the appearance of your partner is not normal and even sexist.

    1. Synnerman

      You can say that again.

    2. Throwatron

      I mean, that may simply have more to do with sample size, given the readership of this comic, lmao

  52. ADLegend21

    Sarah I’m 6’5″ and free this thursday, please contact me this thursday, when I am free.

  53. Dave the Inverted

    I’m not really seeing a problem with what she’s doing here: she’s taken a significant emotional punch to the face, she’s actually intellectually recognized that she bears some responsibility for creating the situation in the first place, and she’s bouncing through some relatively harmless coping mechanisms. She’s not pulling out a knife or boiling any pet rabbits or even trying to throw herself at Jacob. She’s just venting, and grieving for what might have been.

    1. Nymph

      And he literally asked.

      1. Jeremiah

        I mean, he asked what was up with her, the “Lucy stay in your lane” part was a bit out of pocket.

        1. Nymph

          I mean, that’s part of what’s up with her.

        2. Jeremiah

          I don’t think so but I can’t really articulate why.

  54. Adept

    Urgh, that height obsession is stupid, and I say this as a 6 foot 2 bloke (187.5cm)

  55. Raptor

    My wife is taller than me and it’s the best decision she ever made! (I hope)

  56. Rabisch

    I’m quite worried about Sarah’s sanity. I’m also very worried about what will happen to Lucy when she finds herself alone with her. That forced smile seems to hide jealousy, resentment, contempt and many other things that could potentially turn into a violent action or a sordid plan against her. Let’s hope Jacob will be able to avoid that.

    1. Throwatron

      Sarah is gradually realizing what drove her previous roommate to smoke so much goddamned pot all the time.

  57. Mark

    Interesting how Jacob is echoing the recent comments of so many.

    1. Throwatron

      He’s just a good good boy. People like him are rare, but people like him do actually exist, and they’re a godsend to people like Sarah.

      1. Mark

        Oh, I agree. And I quite like Jacob. It’s just interesting that people were catching flak for caring about Sarah, and now he is too, poor guy.

  58. Taigan

    As a 6’2” girl, I sympathize with Sarah here.

  59. Reltzik

    Well, this won’t last long.

  60. Nymph

    Okay, there’s too many million shitty comments here to respond to every single one without my eyes rolling into the back of my head so I’ll do an over-all comment here:

    Sarah (and all people) are allowed to have physical preferences in their romantic and sexual partners.

    There is nothing wrong with wanting a taller partner. I don’t care that it means “short kings” don’t get a chance with some women. Couldn’t care less. No one OWES their attraction to other people.

    It isn’t a slight, an insult, a phobia, or shaming to prefer to date and have sex with people you are attracted to. And we have absolutely ZERO proof that (if she was attracted to him in all other ways) she wouldn’t budge on her height fixation. It’s just her strong preference right now.

    Sarah gets to decide who she dates/bangs based on whatever criteria she likes, and I find it mindblowingly weird that so many commentors thinks she shouldn’t get to or that it’s weird she has a few stated physical preferences.

    1. Nymph

      Million = an exaggeration because I’m not counting.

      Of Note = Even if her preference was a 6’8″, ginger man with heterochromia and three arms, she’s [i]perfectly within reason[/i] to not date anyone until she finds her dream guy.

      1. HueSatLight

        full heterochromia only?

    2. brute

      yes but making her horniness everyone else’s problem while also refusing to give guys under 6′ the time of day is shitty. it’s like all those incels who complain that they can’t get the models they lust after, then act like the victim when someone says to date an average girl; people should either get over their own specifications or stop being a dick about it to everyone (or accept that people won’t want to deal with their attitude)

      1. thejeff

        How is she making her horniness “every else’s problem”? She’s venting to a friend who’s encouraged her to open up.

        Yeah, she’s complaining about Lucy, but that’s kind of understandable right now, isn’t it?

      2. Nymph

        Refusing to date guys under 6′ isn’t shitty. She’s made her horniness exactly one person’s problem AND HE ASKED FIRST.

        Incels are actively violent and hateful toward women. People with preferences for their partner’s attractiveness includes ~literally almost everyone on earth~

        1. Yotomoe

          I think incel is a loaded term because there’s such a wide breadth of behaviour people would identify as “incel behavior”. And I feel like when people criticize something for feeling a bit “incel” it’s not always the extreme antisocial openly sexist version.
          I would say stuff like “Why do girls only date assholes and CHADS?” To be incel behavior. The incessant whining that girls dont like them and like guys that are not them comes across as incel behavior to me. Like if the reverse was happening and Walky was complaining that Lucy was dating a tall dude and that “its not fair. Short girls shouldn’t date tall guys like that. They’re my only option. They should stay in their lane.” I might say that’s kinda incelly. It’s mostly the open lamenting that makes it suck.

        2. Strain of Thought

          Always remember that the term “involuntarily celibate” was invented by a lesbian to describe what it felt like to be gay in a relatively conservative, sparsely populated rural area.

        3. Yotomoe

          Of all the words that should be reclaimed, I definitely feel like its a big one.

        4. Nymph

          Ew. No thank you.

      3. Taffy

        What a stupid fucking comparison. You should be ashamed of this degenerate idiocy you’re inflicting on your ancestors.

    3. Zaxares

      Well said. I agree that Sarah probably shouldn’t have vocalized that in the way that she did, physical attraction is not something that people can consciously control (in my experience, you either like someone, or you don’t) and thus berating someone for not finding somebody attractive is in itself a rather offensive approach. Yes, if you’re absolutely stuck on a particular type that’s hard to find, then it’s on your own shoulders if you can’t find anyone and you shouldn’t take it out on others (re: all the “incels” who turn down girls that aren’t a 9 or 10 in their books), but having your own personal tastes and preferences in and of itself is not a crime.

    4. Taffy

      But what about all the hypothetical sub-6’3″ men whose lives Sarah is ruining by not immediately fucking their brains out on sight?

      1. Nymph

        They could stop being cowards and just fuck each others’ brains out.

        1. Taffy

          Finally, a solution for this crisis of 5’11” men being literally unfuckable: They can just have a massive gay orgy, solving unforeseen global problems.

        2. Nymph

          We’re so good at this. Someone should vote us into government.

        3. Throwatron

          Y’all have my votes!

        4. Taffy

          I would rather commit election fraud in my opponent’s favor than willingly serve in a public office. I would burn the office down by accident* within the first three months. Several white-tailed deer would be involved somehow.

          *Specifically an automotive accident.

        5. Throwatron

          jokes on you, this is still better than all your opponents’ platforms

    5. Colin McKenzie

      “No one OWES their attraction to other people.”

      Which leads us right back to Jacob, Lucy and Sarah.

      1. Nymph

        Sure. I’m not sure we ever left them, since this is still Sarah and Jacob talking, but also relevant to people who think Jacob ‘owed’ Sarah a chance or was ‘leading her on’.

        People like who they like, if they don’t like you that isn’t an attack.

        1. BorkBorkBork

          No, but people will ship who they like. It’s important to remember that this is fiction and we all enjoy it differently.

        2. Nymph

          Show me where I was arguing about shipping?

        3. Throwatron

          He isn’t saying you’re arguing about shipping; he’s pointing out that, if you read some peoples’ emotions and responses to this situation through a different lens, then he believes that some of them may make more sense to you, or you may find them more acceptable. I’m not sure that he’s correct, per se, but that’s what I think he’s trying to communicate.

        4. Nymph

          Thanks, I more was trying to indicate that I had no interest in discussing the topic. But I appreciate you.

    6. Yotomoe

      I’ve said it before but I’ll say it here too.
      My issue isn’t that Sarah likes or wants to date taller guys so much as Sarah sees taller men as inherently “for” taller girls and that shorter girls should just “stay in their lane”. She is fully allowed to like taller guys but she herself is invoking the idea that everyone should cater to that taste of hers.
      And likewise it would sound rude if Joe, for example, said he only dates girls who look a certain way. I’m not saying having a preference makes you a bad person but it’s just sorta rude to openly dismiss people for their appearances, especially on things they can’t control like their height, weight, race, etc. Nobody likes when someone says they won’t date fat people. It just sounds kinda vapid.

      1. Nymph

        Good thing I wasn’t arguing specifically against you then, but all the people here saying there’s something inherently wrong with having a preference for “tall” in a partner.

        A preference that you, yourself, have admitted to. Notably without getting any pushback about how weird/sexist/rude/stupid a preference that might be.

        “My Curse is that I vastly vastly love taller girls. At the least girls that are my height. Height makes right!”

        Nobody liking it when someone says it, doesn’t make it wrong. Your personal preference, and what you find attractive, isn’t an insult to others. If someone is insulted by not being attractive to one person, that is a THEM problem and they should sit with it.

        1. Taffy

          Personal preferences are all well and good, until you express or have one and somebody ever finds out about it. It’s okay to be attracted to somebody for certain reasons, but it’s not okay to tell them why. And don’t tell anyone else why, either. If you’re out with your friends and one of them says “Wow, look at the shoulders on that hunk”, your moral duty as their friend is to lay a verbal smackdown and tear them apart for expressing such a harmful sentiment.

        2. Nymph

          Which is why, when I date someone, I never compliment them. Especially not around other people. Wouldn’t want someone to think I have a preference or that I’m objectifying my partner. In fact, I don’t even tell anyone we’re dating. In fact, I don’t even take them outside in case we’re seen and someone can infer a preference based on the pattern of my dating choices.

          It’s the only way to be sure.

        3. Yotomoe

          I don’t agree with people who say there’s something inherently wrong for having a preference for tall guys, if that makes it clear. And certainly while I have a thing for taller women, I am more than willing to date outside of my ideal “type”. Though that’s probably more of a side-effect of “Beggars can’t be Choosers”.
          Still, I’m sure people are mostly just upset because a lotta people can relate to the feeling of societal pressure to “look” a certain way to be perceived as attractive and seeing those beliefs reinforced can be a sore spot for them. I don’t believe it’s just a personal issue, it’s a systemic issue.

        4. Nymph

          Sure, maybe that’s why they’re upset, but that doesn’t make having a physical preference wrong.

          There’s also a lot of societal pressure on women not to express preferences or have standards for the men they date and “just settle” so I think framing this as a societal issue when it’s literally about a single person is silly (for those who are doing that), and likely to hit conflicting messages pretty fast.

          Having a type and being willing or unwilling to date outside it doesn’t affect anyone but yourself, and as I said, I find it overwhelmingly weird that so many commentors see personal preference as a negative thing.

  61. John in CA

    Lol. Well, as they say, it’s a process. She’ll either stick with it or she won’t.

    That said, if she does… chances are that, over time, it will become a sincere personality change. “Fake it till you make it” does kinda work if you fake it long enough.

    1. Cakemage

      It can, but there’s no guarantee. I spent almost my entire teenage years trying to fake my way into being straight, wanting kids and being a good little Christian girl like I was supposed to be, and all it did was destroy my (already fragile) mental health.

  62. Rebecca

    The good news is, they’re finally having a conversation.

    The bad news, Sarah is absolutely blowing it and might not even realize it.

  63. Colin McKenzie

    Sarah’s face is about to crack open, and all the rage is about to come out.

    1. Nymph

      Oooh like a scene from The Thing – I’d be here for that.

      1. Colin McKenzie

        I was thinking more like an emotional pustule, but yours is better.

  64. J

    After an archive dive, it seems that Sarah and Jason have only been on the same page once and they didn’t interact. It’s no wonder he didn’t make it onto her list.

    1. John Campbell

      Jason is Ruth’s. And that’s okay, ’cause Ruth is roughly as tall as Sarah.

      1. Throwatron

        Also, you know that Sarah would find Jason too effeminate for her to consider attractive, in a masculine sense. He “wouldn’t count,” cause he’s tall, but not conventionally attractive, in the hyper-masculine sense.

        1. Taffy

          What’s the British term for a stringy twink?

        2. NGPZ

          not really a British term but I think they call them “twigs” XD

  65. Ninjazaku

    Sarah, hon, you’re sounding just a wee bit manic there.

    1. Jeremiah

      It is better that depression right? Right??

  66. Jeremiah

    Wow, I didn’t expect the height comment to be the thing that caused so much discourse. That was honestly the less interesting part about this strip. Could I ask you all to reply with comments about something other than that?

    1. Yumi

      Sure. I feel kind of sad for Sarah in panel 3. She’s not wrong! But it’s sad.

    2. Throwatron

      It’s the most uncontroversially putrid thing she’s said in a long time, which is why people are more willing to come at her for it. The other problems with her have some degree of nuance, and create some degree of sympathy. But, she said an honest-yet-uncomplicatedly-bad thing, so the people who get their rocks off rightly pointing out that [checks notes] the mentally ill borderline children in their coming-of-age story, do not have good social skills, and have obvious character flaws.

      They gotta get her for something, or else they don’t get the brain chemicals for proving to everybody in the comments, that they’re super-ethical and morally pure, unlike the evil characters in the comic. So, they’re obviously gonna choose to dog-pile her for the thing that they will get no push-back on, because its wrongness is simple, and commonly accepted.

      1. Throwatron

        lol i missed like half a sentence but i don’t think it mattered

      2. Taffy

        Oh come on, “putrid”? She’s said nothing wrong.

      3. Yumi

        What I don’t get is why people regularly feel they have to be so rude to the real life people on the other side of the comments if they comment about something they dislike about a character. Ans sometimes when they’re not even focused on it as an issue with the character. I guess I do get it, you’re being over intense because you don’t like something. Lately it seems like even some of my favorite commenters are more focused on being mean to others than anything else.

        1. Taffy

          Y’know what, I feel called out by this, and that’s probably a good enough reason to introspect and readjust some behavior.

      4. Jeremiah

        Oh come on I literally asked that you comment literally anything else!

        1. Clif

          You should have known better and should apologize immediately.

  67. Robert

    It’s called catharsis, Jacob. Let Sarah have this.

    1. Dday

      Agreed. If she held in the (admittedly kinda gross) things she was feeling rn she’d probably pop. Thank god Jacob managed to squeeze it out of her.

  68. Sirksome

    Today’s comments feels like the comments for one of those find love or pop the balloon type videos where men and women line up to date someone based solely on their looks, but it just end with people roasting each other instead.

  69. Dday

    Buried in the torrent of bitterness, self-loathing and jealousy Sarah is (thankfully) expelling at the moment is actually a pretty good point.
    Sarah desires tall men.
    Sarah only knows 3 tall men, because she’s been so socially withdrawn and curmudgeonly.
    I sure know what that’s like, so I’m in no place to judge. I’ve mentioned this in the past, but Sarah has always been the hardest character for me to read about because she reminds me of what I was like at her age, thick, spiky walls.
    But yeah, Sarah! Go to a dang basketball game, I hear tell there are some tall dudes at those.

  70. J

    the thing is, she’s 100% right, and “being herself” is not going to fix anything in her life. the only thing we really have control over at the end of the day is ourselves and our own actions. she clearly knows how to be better. good on her for trying.

    1. Banana Slamma

      She’s “100% right”? She just said that it’s unnatural for short women to date tall men.
      I mean, I’m just saying that she has used a lot of stuff in this comic, and maybe not all of it is correct.
      Also, being a phony version of yourself rather than trying to deal with your own mental health and hangups sounds like a terrible way to set-up a breakdown or further social failures.

  71. Jennifer Bak

    Sarah’s missing out! My husband and I are the same height, but I love wearing my platform boots and towering over him as I lean down to kiss him. It makes me feel a bit like Lady Dimitrescu. My husband has quipped that he’ll climb me like a tree. 😉

    1. Nymph

      It’s only missing out if that’s a feeling you would like or want for yourself. It’s okay if she doesn’t.

  72. Hoboturtle

    Was gonna make a comment about how Sarah should go low but thinking about it assuming Sarah is targeting exclusively cis men:

    Aster is taken, Danny is w taken, Walky is taken. Is there even anyone else left?

  73. Dana W

    Height is a nightmare, as an older transitioner, height is hell. Its clothes that don’t fit, (Torrid excluded) its heads that spin around if you go to a restroom, and I am so thankful I don’t want a man, as at six feet two inches, good luck there. My current partner is still five inches shorter than me, so I’m still the high shelf person, but she is the one who opens the stuck jars. 🙂 But people are goofy about height. I wish you could donate height, if I was even four inches shorter I’d have a life.

    1. Taigan

      ? Same. 6’2 here

  74. Cakemage

    Honestly, as someone who’s 4’11” (no, that’s not a typo), I get what Sarah is saying. I’m a lesbian who’s only into women who’re tall enough to get stuff off of shelves for me (and before anyone makes any smart remarks about stepladders, please note that I am a physically disabled fall risk so that’s kind of a non-starter right there) but not so tall that either of us would have to seriously strain our necks to kiss. Of course, this is all hypothetical, as I’m a sad virgin loser who hasn’t been on a date in over 20 years and I truly cannot imagine anyone ever being attracted to me anyway.

    Also, Sarah’s just had a big emotional blow and she’s venting. People who are venting their frustrations sometimes exaggerate for emphasis, and so maybe we shouldn’t take everything she’s saying here as an ironclad fact. Also sure, maybe the “have no other options” thing is her saying she refuses to consider men under 6’3″ because she’s not attracted to them, but then again, it could also come from her insecurities about her own height. Lots of men refuse to date women who’re taller than they are, after all. People are allowed to have types.

    On another note, while I’m not the biggest Lucy fan, she didn’t know that Sarah was into Jacob and she didn’t hook up with him to spite her (but it was partially to spite Walky, lol). Jacob, however, did know. Does he owe Sarah sex and/or a relationship? Of course not! But it was still at best insensitive of him to hook up with someone he just met right after being invited by Sarah to the party, and he knows it. It also seems like he could’ve given Lucy a heads up about Sarah’s crush on him so that she’d have been a little more prepared for the awkwardness. She shouldn’t have had to hear it from Jennifer like two seconds before Sarah walked out the door. I’m surprised the poor girl didn’t have a heart attack.

  75. anon

    Not Sarah disrespecting short kings she sounds like my grandma…

  76. anon

    I’m a trans woman and SARAH IS RIGHT. CLIMB TREES ROUGHLY YOUR OWN SIZE.

  77. Rectilinear Propagation

    Jacob managed to complain about Sarah being too pleasant and being too unpleasant in the space of five panels.

    The people-pleaser in me is outraged on her behalf.

    1. Cakemage

      You have no idea how badly I wish I could upvote you right now!

  78. Kazuma Taichi

    Honestly I understand Sarah’s gripes here, even if I believe in the opposite. I mean, does anyone know how difficult it is to find bisexual women that are 6’2″ or taller? I’m basically doomed to only date shorter than me

  79. Ash

    Sarah would make an excellent stand up comedian (derogative)

  80. Cryny

    As a short guy cursed with being strongly attracted to taller women, I find it eternally frustrating that most women won’t even consider dating someone shorter than themselves.

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