Talita: Nooooooo don't look at me or think about the problems caused by my non-human body (crumbles into ash)
Transcript
Idrisah: (ASL) Oh, sure! It’s not like we’re listening, anyways.Gillie: (ASL) This app is bad with non-human voices and even worse with crosstalk. We need to train it to recognize you.
Idrisah: (ASL) I think Talita should just try signing!
Gillie: (ASL) Your comprehension IS really good...
Talita's cheeks begin to bristle with embarrassment.
Talita: There’s… a lot to work around.
Gillie: (ASL) that just makes it more exciting.
Idrisah: (ASL) We’re xenolingiusts! “Working around” is what we do!
Talita bristles even harder, shrinking away from her friends.
Idrisah: (ASL) We’re willing to help if you’re willing to try!
Talita: (ASL) …Yes.
Gillie and Idrisah smile.
37 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 54”
amymist
nooo shes embrassed (but cute)
Internet Stranger
Awww, don’t worry Talita!! Idrisah and Gillie are experts in this sort of thing!!!
Also, is there a way to change one’s icon?? I’d like to have mine as a Centaur lol
Kaamos
The random icons seem to be determined by the name initial, so you can look at which initials get centaurs and change your nickname to something that starts with the right letter ;o
(Of course, that’s assuming that I’ve picked up on the random icon causes correctly…)
Rad Internent Stranger
Thank you so much!! Ima try adding “Rad” to my username lel
Let’s see what happens
0xabad1dea
if you have a gravatar profile for your email address, it will automatically pull your avatar from there (that’s why mine is a pink chibi); you could copy over the centaur image you like manually
Viridian
It’s based off initials as far as I can tell 😀 Anyone with the same letter has the same default pfp throughout the comments. I’m pretty sure these are all centaur initials:
Blue centaur: C. Green centaur: HY. Orange centaur: M. Purple centaur: R
And I don’t know what V makes so I’m checking with my own name lol
Ruby
Lmao the face she made at first when they told her to sing 😂
I love both Gillie and Idrisha’s enthusiasm and Talita’s bravery. This is good friending.
Ruby
Also, Talita, you’re IMMENSELY lucky that your oral apparatus is separate from your eating one. No choking, no bad breath (not from food anyway).
Ruby
*vocal apparatus, rather
silverware
awww, talita’s blushing
SIGSTKFLT
is it that no better transcription app is possible on handheld hardware? or Gillie can’t access anything better? or what?
Jay Eaton
It’s that Gillie would much rather talk to Talita in her first language that Talita already shows a lot of proficiency in instead of relying on any technological mediator.
Calcifer
Talita’s puffed up facial feathers are so damn cute. It’s going to live rent free in my head.
eden
what DOES talitas voice sound like?
Nadg
It’s higher pitch than you would think! Her vocal tract is almost fully contained in her head, so despite her size it’s smaller than our. It also has a noticeable buzz, but centaurs are the best aliens when it comes to reproducing human sounds.
She can also make infrasonic vibrations using her full respiratory track, but it’s mostly an innate sign of distress.
Peter Jensen
Higher pitched than you’d expect from a person of that size:
https://jayeaton.site/Art/RttS/Animation/ShyamHandFlap
eden
thank you!! I can only imagine the squeaky toy she was as a little kid.
EveryZig314
That’s super cute!
Origamigryphon
https://www.tumblr.com/jayrockin/662418518732603392/shyams-brain-is-compelled-to-stim-talitas-brain?source=share
Cryptid
I wonder what Talita’s voice sounds like! Is it audibly different then a human voice or is it more like an accent??
wingedhorror
https://jayeaton.site/Art/RttS/Animation/ShyamHandFlap
Willard
Oh my gosh, I loooove that Talita gradually puffs up the closer she gets to signing for the first time!!! Such a small but delicious detail!!!
Username?
They look so happy in the last panel 😀
Fallingfeather
I’m not gonna lie, taking those first steps into speaking another language with native speakers *is* really embarrassing. There’s such a huge difference between making yourself look like an idiot in a lesson and looking like an idiot in front of a real human being… or even worse, a complete stranger. Like I know you Gotta, but ughhhhhhhhh
NTLS
you can do it talita i believe in you….
Gar G
Gosh those eyes
And poor girl, I can understand that they’re being very supportive but I feel they should also be respectful over her not being comfortable with it (though that may be because of me imagining how I’d feel in that sort of situation with my anxiety and autism)
un_pogaz
Haha, traped.
And yes, they are xenolingiusts, that exactly the kind of thing they could do as side project for fun. The only real difficulty will be Talita’s shyness, but we’ve already made a big step on that today.
Else, spark of imagination:
“Do you think we should see the Centaur ASL if they have one?”
“Hum, No. With Talita cultural background, it will be more appropriate to adapt the human ASL directly.”
un_pogaz
EDIT (since I can’t really edit my comment): Oh, is not just shyness, is all a complex about her non-human body. Interesing key of understanding for Talita that was not imagined.
Eeble Deeble
Not to be pedantic, but I doubt “Centaur ASL” exists because ASL stands for American Sign Language, It’s a specific language used mainly in the US and Canada. It would be really cool to see what some centaur sign languages look like, though. I imagine the mobility of their arms gives a lot of freedom in the types of signs they could make
caffiend
ooooh, they might call it CSL for Centaur Sign Language! or they might name it based on the number of fingers/finger-like appendages it was designed for. OH I wonder if different types of centaur (tribes? clans? can’t remember the exact word rn lol) would have different dialects of sign, the same way different areas of the US have different sign “accents?”
(not being pedantic or rude, i just like fantasy linguistics and slang)
AndyTeacupcultist
Probably less “dialects” and more many fully fleshed out languages.
Just because they’re aliens doesn’t mean they suddenly speak one single, unified language.
The same applies to language. Just because we’re talking about signed languages doesn’t mean that humans have magically converged upon a singular one, there are many and some are endangered.
If anything I imagine the lack of globalization, generally local governments and such would result in more languages rather than less and/or even more blurred lines of what counts as a language.
(Something something “A language is a dialect with a Navy”, what is recognized/treated as a language is always political.)
Robin
Talita’s mortified expresion in that second panel is SO funny… poor dear, I know the feeling.
Cass
Awwwwwww
Claire
Ohhhh the nose floof!!!
Apollo235
My god she’s gone full fuzzball!
Mica
It’s so hard to work on the deep seated parts of ourselves that arise out of childhood. It can feel like trying to cut back kudzu, the way it keeps cropping up, but you stop gotta do it. Good on Talita for giving it a go, even though it’s clearly something she desperately wants to cringe away from.
Someone
I was refreshing the page so much today hehehe cannot contain excitement