Cup Size in Stories

[blozo]

I think I once invented the phrase, "she had those big-ass, racing-car hootenanny tits."

I don't think I've found a use for it yet.

Can I borrow that?

 

[Rustyoznail]

"Kinda like the "Millennium Falcon making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs." "

And there we go! The obligatory Star Wars reference.

 

[Voboy]

Can I borrow that?

Nah. I still have hope I'll use it.

 

[jehoram]

Started to read a story the other day, supposedly written from a woman’s perspective, describing one woman as having 36” breasts, another having 34” breasts, and a third having “only 32” breasts”. Uh, cup size? What’s that? Sigh.

Obviously needed a female beta reader or editor.

Kinda like the "Millennium Falcon making the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs."

I remember some convoluted explanation of how that could make sense, involving a minimum number of jumps into hyperspace. Me, I'm like watching Star Trek and hearing Geordie say something like, "Captain, the gravitron flux is interfering with our readings, and the epsilon waves are too intense for the dilithium crystals to tolerate." Yeah, sure.

And that's it for the obligatory Star Trek reference.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I remember some convoluted explanation of how that could make sense, involving a minimum number of jumps into hyperspace. Me, I'm like watching Star Trek and hearing Geordie say something like, "Captain, the gravitron flux is interfering with our readings, and the epsilon waves are too intense for the dilithium crystals to tolerate." Yeah, sure.

And that's it for the obligatory Star Trek reference.

Apparently the Star Trek screen writers would just write things like "We can't beam Riker back to the ship because [tech]' in the script and let their guy fill it in later.

 

[tenyari]

I remember some convoluted explanation of how that could make sense, involving a minimum number of jumps into hyperspace.

It'd have to be very convoluted but I think I've seen one of those too.

The problem for those who don't know is that a parsec is a distance, not a time.

So it's like saying "he made the trip from New York to San Francisco in less than 12 feet."

The writer of that line probably wanted to denote speed, not distance. And this is a good example for noting that 'always look up what your jargon means if you try to use real words'.

 

[tenyari]

Back to 'cup-size'. I was dwelling on this topic a lot a month or so ago when going over notes for a fantasy story that I keep threatening I will someday get back to writing.

The people of that world have no context for modern notions, and it's a nude world so they also lack an equivalent to a bra even in home sewn varieties.

And I got thinking about how I would differentiate two characters from the crowd around them - one who has unusually large breasts and the other unusually small.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread I try to avoid cup-size unless a character was describing clothing. But in this context it's even a step further and I started to think on 'what objects or other systems around the characters would they have come up with as ways to describe this attribute?'

I've still not settled on what their method will be, and so far my notes just note that there's "average" for all the people around them, and then these two characters. And it coming up in the first moments of the first scene as the main character finds herself waking in a new body that has some dramatic differences to what she is used to.

 

[Voboy]

Back to 'cup-size'. I was dwelling on this topic a lot a month or so ago when going over notes for a fantasy story that I keep threatening I will someday get back to writing.

The people of that world have no context for modern notions, and it's a nude world so they also lack an equivalent to a bra even in home sewn varieties.

And I got thinking about how I would differentiate two characters from the crowd around them - one who has unusually large breasts and the other unusually small.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread I try to avoid cup-size unless a character was describing clothing. But in this context it's even a step further and I started to think on 'what objects or other systems around the characters would they have come up with as ways to describe this attribute?'

I've still not settled on what their method will be, and so far my notes just note that there's "average" for all the people around them, and then these two characters. And it coming up in the first moments of the first scene as the main character finds herself waking in a new body that has some dramatic differences to what she is used to.

I mean, there's a reason some people call them "melons?"

 

[TarnishedPenny]

OK, consider the word ‘average’. Our attention is rarely drawn to ‘average’, be it height or weight or, yes, breast size. Oh, to be sure, men will notice and admire a shapely bosom of any size, but what stands out, what first catches our eyes is the ‘non-average’.

My point is that measured size is immaterial; it’s relative size that gets noticed. So, description’s the thing. One can simply say that the one woman had unusually large breasts and the other had very small ones. Or, one could get enthusiastic and write that one was ‘generously endowed’ or possessed a ‘eye-cathing frontage’ while her friend was ‘painfully thin’ or ‘flat-chested’ or was possessed of a ‘boyish fugure’. There are no doubt hundreds of synonyms which might be used - the cited ‘melons’ vs ‘lemons’.

Don’t overcomplicate things without need to do so. Good luck.

 

[ronde]

I almost never write about a specific cup size unless it's a woman talking about her own size or if the guy has been with her long enough he's read the tag on her bra. Describing size in a somewhat ambiguous way, like, "not huge, but still pretty nice", or "I couldn't tell because her clothes didn't fit all that tight, but she definitely wasn't very big" let the reader mold the character according to what he or she wants to see.

 

[KeithD]

Back to 'cup-size'. I was dwelling on this topic a lot a month or so ago when going over notes for a fantasy story that I keep threatening I will someday get back to writing.

The people of that world have no context for modern notions, and it's a nude world so they also lack an equivalent to a bra even in home sewn varieties.

And I got thinking about how I would differentiate two characters from the crowd around them - one who has unusually large breasts and the other unusually small.

As I mentioned earlier in the thread I try to avoid cup-size unless a character was describing clothing. But in this context it's even a step further and I started to think on 'what objects or other systems around the characters would they have come up with as ways to describe this attribute?'

I've still not settled on what their method will be, and so far my notes just note that there's "average" for all the people around them, and then these two characters. And it coming up in the first moments of the first scene as the main character finds herself waking in a new body that has some dramatic differences to what she is used to.

This is one dimensional--all from the perspective of the narration. Broaden out your thinking about it. How would the characters do descriptions? All of your characters would do them the same way as a one-dimensional narrator? You can't give personality to and insight into characters by giving looks through their eyes? All description is made by the narrator? Characters never give their individual take on the description of other characters?

(This isn't just addressed only to tenyari. I just bring it up because of the one-dimensional approach to description in stories I see in this post.)

These measurement discussions are always so limited and depressing in terms of writing.

 

[tenyari]

Broaden out your thinking about it. How would the characters do descriptions?

That's what I meant.

One of the things I tend to do in most of my stories is never leave the head of my character(s) - usually staying in just one of them. So everything I write is told from their POV and their understanding. Though I did do some "in the future I would learn XYZ" in my recent story - even that was their understanding of XYZ.

So my stories are always somewhat 'unreliable self narrator'.

My character have no concept of a bra let alone clothing. So what terms do I wish to use for how they describe themselves and each other. That is what I am thinking.

What will be my protagonists first bit of inner monologue when she stands up from a strange bed and finds her body has a very different feel to it, then looks down to see her the change. And then what will she hear from others who talk about her and another character - both of whom stand out from the norm.

I've just been mulling that over in my head of late. It's not a major thing as I'm not writing this one right now. But it's on my mind recently.

 

[KeithD]

My character have no concept of a bra let alone clothing. So what terms do I wish to use for how they describe themselves and each other. That is what I am thinking.

Which is limiting the characters you write, isn't it? You'd never write construction workers sitting on a wall, watching the girls go by? If you did, you couldn't legitimately see them assessing the girls in terms of cup size--even/especially not really knowing what the sizing actually came out to?

I see this limiting discussion on cup size come up every couple of months--and it always shows limited writer's perspective. I just don't understand this need to slam this writing issue every other month on the discussion board.

 

[jehoram]

The people of that world have no context for modern notions, and it's a nude world so they also lack an equivalent to a bra even in home sewn varieties.

And I got thinking about how I would differentiate two characters from the crowd around them - one who has unusually large breasts and the other unusually small.

For research, I suggest that you visit a few nudist resorts during a time when there will be a lot of people there, like for a special event. After seen a hundred boobies all at once, cup size will be totally irrelevant. Sort of like the relative interior space of a Corolla versus a Ferrari... they may be roughly equivalent, and they both have four wheels, but that's where the resemblance ends.

So describe nipples, areolas, sag, motion when the ladies run or jump. Mention the ones that are dripping milk. Describe what the women actually do with their breasts, especially in erotic contexts... do they lift them, stretch them, knead them?

 

[tenyari]

Which is limiting the characters you write, isn't it?

It's known as first person perspective. It's actually a not all too uncommon form of writing.

There's a common hybrid between that and third which is closer to where I write.

The moment in my newest story where the POV character meets the woman he is about to be caught up in a story with:

Miguel just grinned and whispered, "any moment now..."

One of the old guys a few seats down the bar from us burped out loudly, distracting me. The woman next to him held up her beer, looking to the stage as she raised the bottle in salute. My eyes followed along and that was when I pretty much fell off my stool.

I'd heard about them. Everybody had. But Mexico City is huge, and even with darn near ten thousand of them living in the city, I'd yet to see one before then. Let alone one like her.

She was taking the mic and getting ready to sing, and suddenly every part of my existence was paying attention.

She was stunningly beautiful. Long hair, fully lips, gorgeous eyes that seemed to brilliantly offset her long lashes, and she was completely, utterly naked.

And of course, she was green, with bright violet hair, and long pointy ears. Those eyes, were amber color, and those lips had a bluish tint to them, as did the lips below, framing a clit prominent enough for me to see all the way across the room. If only I had my photographer's camera with me.

"She's a fucking alien," Jose said. His beer slipped out of his hand and hit the bar counter.

The bartender gave her own chuckle as she caught it and kept it from falling over. "Every time," she said in a quiet voice I almost missed.

We're in his head, also getting scene description. This format has served me well for years. It's intimate and I love how it causes a story to unfold.

Note how in this scene I don't describe her breasts at all as that's not the aspect his eye is drawn to. In the entire story I mention her breasts twice and this is the extent of their description because it's not important to this story:

"So um..." I looked her up and down.

"You like, I take it?" she grinned at me and did a little move that caused her breasts to bounce, forcing my eyes to notice how pretty her large dark green nipples were.

Whereas what I was referring to above, an inwork story - the breasts of the body the main character finds herself in is something jarring to her, so it will be described there. I actually fully know how I will do this, I only brought it up in this discussion to note it, set the stage for maybe later quoting what I then write, and as I was musing over the story and looking over this discussion where I have said several times now that I strongly prefer to not use 'cup size' and other measurement systems.

I like emotive descriptions. And part of that is that I am always describing from inside some characters view and impression of the scene.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Boobs can't be too big. Hands can be too small though.

 

[JaxRhapsody]

I might not ever give an exact breast size, but just know, not a single woman in any of my stories is smaller than a D cup. Not even that mannequin.

 

[Grendelpuppy]

Here is a useful link to aid understanding:

https://www.liquisearch.com/bra_sizes/calculating_cup_volume_and_breast_weight

 

[AlinaX]

Ah, yes, the Archimedes scale.

 

[onehitwanda]

Ah, yes, the Archimedes scale.

The scale of US bra sizes looks very much like Pascal's triangle

 

[Bazzle]

My large women in my stories...need a buttock size...hmmm

 

[onehitwanda]

My large women in my stories...need a buttock size...hmmm

Half a giraffe is a good unit of measure. The UK press love giraffes as a unit.

Stupid long horses.

 

[Bazzle]

Half a giraffe is a good unit of measure. The UK press love giraffes as a unit.

Stupid long horses.

I can envisage "The leopard print thong split the buttocks resting on the lower back tattoo as if it was a giraffe eating the low hanging veg."

But not sure a buttock is a giraffe...

B

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I can envisage "The leopard print thong split the buttocks resting on the lower back tattoo as if it was a giraffe eating the low hanging veg."

But not sure a buttock is a giraffe...

B

I think the back end of a bus is the standard comparison for a backside. Maybe a phone box for one buttock?

 

[AwkwardlySet]

When comparing sex bits, only fruits and vegetables are allowed. Be nice.