Tod is so large because he is full of his coworkers' secrets.
Transcript
Talita picks up remote control and drives the broken frontloader towards the vehicle workshop, stomping angrily alongside it and muttering to herself.
Talita: “Doesn’t fit in the vehicles.” Yet SOMEHOW I’m still a more competent driver than you pricks!
Mel and Tod are in the vehicle workshop when she arrives.
Mel: Oh! Talita! Are the temps still behaving themselves?
Talita: Uh… Yeah!
Mel: Great! Tod, I’ll see you at the housing project tomorrow!
Tod looks knowingly at Talita as she begins to disconnect the cutter arm attachment from the frontloader.
Tod: You don’t tell Mel much, do you.
Talita: They mean well…
53 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 92”
Tentament
I like the contrast between Phoebe saying she “can never tell with centaur faces” on the previous page and Tod just casually reading Talita’s mind with a glance here.
Taren
If Talita were the kind of person I would imagine being a lot more aggressive to the interns would probably get them to sit up straight.
Martin
100% understand not wanting to explain your problems to the person who’s supposed to be fixing them if you knowwww that they aren’t going to Get It and it’ll take too much explaining and they’ll say unhelpful things that won’t work and you’ll get pissed off.
Many such cases.
Teeth Burglar
I’m loving Tod so far! He’s such a normal guy that really grounds the setting.
Scolopendra
We all know a Tod: he’s a guy who KNOWS and GETS IT.
death
in a lot of ways, someone who genuinely means well but never listens is worse than someone that actively dislikes you.
Athelind Llewellyn Long
Talita’s expression in panel 1 is very Angry Dragon from Japanese woodcut. As well it should be.
Ruby
“Tod is so large because he is full of his coworkers’ secrets.” Lol
He does look like the quiet type that ends up absorbing info just by “minding his business”.
Lilac
When the random digital criminal thing you only met recently has so far been more truly understanding than the boss you have worked with for almost a decade (surely this shall lead to no major plot events whatsoever)
carrot flower
its fun guessing what will happen next (: I would guess Mel is trying to petition to modify some of the established living units for temps so that Talita can live WITH the temps, share space with them, and THUS, no longer be ‘isolated’ or ‘othered’.
Consequences of Talita having not been honest with Mel about just how bad the situations with the temps are … perhaps to Mel, they are only friends she hasn’t gotten to have dinner with yet. Perhaps Mel places the blame for Talita’s loneliness on her accommodations, and not on something like bigotry & individual bias. However, Talita’s only comfort is likely the solitude, the ability to be unseen as she works out or tinkers. Perhaps Mel is going to rip that away from her. Many such cases. Happened to my husband a lot in life …
I just see Mel as a busybody. Well-meaning but out of depth. And not comprehending just what is going on here, or imagining the solution is easy, or even something Talita wants. Even if I could ‘earn’ my humanity with people from sheer exposure, I still wouldn’t like what their kneejerk reaction to me was. I think even if Talita was honest, Mel probably just isn’t the kind of person who can offer the sorts of solutions or candor she likes (like Calcery… night & day)… the choice to not tell someone one’s issues is such a ‘well, I would rather deal with this than this’ and she might not want to foster more of what’s already going down with Mel’s relationship to her … not asking for a parent.
JoB
> its fun guessing what will happen next (:
If I take Origamigryphons oracular cera with a bit more seriousness than I did below, we might get to see Talita yeet that cutter arm clear across the hall on the next page … word of which should HOPEFULLY get back to Mel *before* they wind an excess of hydraulic hose around their own jugular the next day.
boxesofboxes
me when my boss rehires the guy i hate and is also bad at the work. I aint gonna say shit. but I Am Mad.
Apollo235
Neat detail I noticed, Tod probably saw Talita stomping up, since we see he’s facing that direction. He seems like an emotionally intelligent guy so I’m sure he would have picked up regardless, but it’s fun to see that he 100% saw her angry face and that’s a large reason why he’s acting the way he is
Heather
Talita’s rage in panel 1 is so well-drawn, and the flared nostril on her side (is that what they’re called??) is a great touch! Also loving her extremely jacked forearms in the last panels. This comic makes alien anatomy so believable.
Origamigryphon
Wait until the next page >:3
JoB
What, is she about to shift into her Noodle-Armed Sock Puppet form? X-D
evileeyore
No, she’s gonna flex so hard several readers will have a sexual awakening.
Spoilers?
Do comments like this count as spoilers?
Heather
Now I See
JoB
> the flared nostril on her side (is that what they’re called??)
Good question … etymologically, a “nostril” should be part of a *nose*. Other terms that emerged based on *our* fauna – gill( cover)s in fish, siphons in molluscs, etc. – aren’t exactly shouting “me! Pick me!!!” at me, either. Taken literally, snails’ “pneumostome” might be a good candidate, but even those do *two way* breathing through them – I’d like to see a technical term that acknowledges that Talita *doesn’t*. And no, “exhaust” is right out. :-3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumostome
Varyon
The operculum in fish (the part where the water exits the gills) is probably the closest we see on Earth, although I may be mistaken. But that doesn’t really work that well, since that means something like “opening/closing/lid-like structure” and I think the breathing-out-holes are pretty much always open, and certainly don’t look like they have any sort of cover. A newly-constructed term may be needed. Maybe something like spirexven (from Latin spir, for “breathe”, and exventare, itself from ex for “out” and ventus for “wind”)?
Heather
Ooh “pneumostome” is fun, and pretty visually similar! I also double-checked the Centaur Biology bit on the Worldbuilding part of the site – Jay has labeled them “excurrent nostrils/vents” which also makes sense (https://jayeaton.site/RunawayToTheStars/Sophonts/Centaurs/Biology#RespiratorySystem). I guess it just goes to show how limited Earth (and indeed English) vocabuary is for describing the specifics of alien biology!
Calcifer
Yeahh.. actually bringing up experiencing prejudice in the workplace can be… complicated. I feel there’s always a fear of nothing getting solved and it only getting worse after you “snitch.” Man, poor Talita, though. And she’S RIGHT! They have no ground to stand on after their performances today. Ol’ girl can drive vehicles better with a damn controller- that’s honestly a flex.
Also, Mel, my beloved~
I am curious what’s going on with the housing project? Other commenters seem to think it’s going to be the final nail in the coffin for Talita hightailing it out of here- that Mel’s going to have some well-intentioned, yet totally off-base plan for her with the new housing? I’m not sure if that’s where it’s going, but it does have me interested.
evileeyore
Workplace problems: If HR is good, then having HR handle it will resolve it just fine. What I think we have here is “HR isn’t good, and Mel likes to get involved in Talita’s problems and isn’t the best at creating resolutions”. Or just that Mel is one of Talita’s parents so that’s a “complication” in the “have Mom fix your problems” way that no one who is at all independent wants.
On the housing front… I strongly suspect that Mel is angling to get a whole Centuar clan to take up residency… and that’s not necessarily going to be good for Talita’s mental health. Get bullied and othered by human by temps (the specias group she is most comfortable with) and get bullied/snubbed/othered by her own species because Talita has no social framework to even begin understanding them (and very likely does not even speak the lingo).
Meanwhile Mel will feel terrible and not understand how this could have happened… which only makes everything worse for Talita and Mel, it’s a viscious cycle it is!
JoB
> “Yet SOMEHOW I’m still a more competent driver than you pricks!”
… weeeelll being humans in a large-ish group, I suppose that a lot of their exercising time goes into honing their social graces …
[jumps into nearest pillbox >:-> ]
samkee00
what does this mean
JoB
… a “pillbox” is where you go when you expect incoming flak … ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pillbox_(military)
samkee00
I don’t understand the rest of the comment either lmao
JoB
@samkee00 I suggested that the temps have not yet learned to drive very well because their time is taken up by their stellar social interactions. (Spoiler: Or whatever the adjective for “vanishes straight into a hole in the ground it *burnt* for itself” is.)
Gar G
Can relate so hard to Talita. I often have issues like that and can never really tell anyone.
Don’t know if it’s my autism or social anxiety or what…
Greenjoe
Talita really needs to tell Sophont Resources about this workplace harassment… those bullies need to be put in their place.
Gar G
Yeah definitely
(I’ve actually had a couple similar issues at work of having to contact HR about being subjected to sexist behavior from coworkers)
Truther
I had this one thought on my mind since first seeing em, but well
I hope no one clicked off the comic after seeing Mel, thinking that the artist has the “young people artstyle maximum”. Because damm, the art is just amazing and if any theoretical being did that, they sure are missing a lot
creetur
Agreed, I love Jay’s artstyle, it’s very edible looking.
Jay Eaton
If someone reading the comic is fine with alien bodies but finds a normal human character with intersex characteristics too weird to look at, then honestly that’s a them problem. Sounds like they would be frightened by random people at the bus stop and grocery store.
Napkinkat
Talita has a stronger will than me, despite being pretty non-confrontational I’d have probably bitten them by now!
I hope Talita brings it up to someone soon!
Guest
Reading all these comments about biting, I’m laughing imagining humans having a higher biting incidence than any other sophont. The two-legged biters. Be careful around humans because they’ll bite you with their shiny smooth teeth.
Napkinkat
Lmao, I wonder what our ‘fight bites’ (a real thing you can find medical photos of btw.) look like on other sophonts.
Guest
I’d say you’d probably need to go to a hospital if you ingest alien blood, but if you’re at the point where people are biting each other I think a hospital visit is pretty unavoidable already.
JoB
I don’t think that many typ humans would *need* to go that far with the smaller alien species – not to mention that it’s quite ineffective if you just wind up with a mouthful of feathers. :-3 (Or, for the AIs, electronic parts and a nice zap.) Centaurs … eeehhh, not advisable. That leaves the bug ferrets, and *they* usually come in larger groups …
creetur
Pissed off stance at the top panel..
Seems that bottling issues/emotions out of social anxiety or not wanting to cause “more trouble” is universal. It’s ok Talita, we’re all rooting for you!
Also, Tod might be going into the group of ‘favorite side characters’ for me, next to Yao.
Duck
There’s a saying. “Well meant is the opposite of well done”. I think it applies here.
Sen
Oh! Angry hyper carnivore on the loose! And still looking cute as heck! That trunk curl <3
And I am really worried that Talita makes a 180 as soon as Mel talks to them. Talita and Mel have known each other for a long time. That means that if Talita is so reserved with Mel, something is not working. And Mel does not even notice how upset Talita is. I hope we learn more.
evileeyore
I think Mel knows. I suspect on Mel’s end it’s a case of “I’ve interfered before and only messed things up worse for her, so I’m not interfering so hard right now, I hope I’m not messing things up even worse by staying out of it and pretending I don’t notice, oh my poor little Talita…” mixed with “Yay! I’m going to bring Talita so many new friends from her own species to come live here!’ Fellow centaurs who probably barely speak English and have trouble dealing politely with other Centaurs who have no clan… and will probably bully her endlessly.
In other words, Momma Mel can’t ‘win’ no matter how hard they try or what they do.
Solidago
I think it’s ALSO just polite to not dig into someone when they say everything is fine. Talita doesn’t want to talk about it, that’s on her, and Mel was about to leave anyway. Not ideal timing for a heart to heart.
Guest
Yeah, Talita, get mad! But, you have to STAY mad…
I think Mel’s trying to finally give Talita a proper house.
Apollo235
I really hope Talita or someone contacts Sophont Resources about the bigotry several of the temps are displaying before Talita leaves the planet. I want to see those pricks pack their bags and fuck off
feesh
lol this comment is what made me realize there’s a good chance HR is now an antiquated term, at least in spacer cultures
JoB
Chances are that, as far as the RttS variants of English are concerned, it got backronymed as “*Hired* Resources” or somesuch …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backronym
Septemberdale
Oh, that’s clever, I bet that’s the case.
Tyrone the Miner
Tod knows…..He can smell the anger om Talita like a fume of repressed urges to horse-kick the lot om them…Hard!
Hanroz
That look he gives, yeah, he knows.
evileeyore
Kinda wish Talita would lean on Tod for advice here, he’s someone she respects, is at the same hierarchical level, and probably has dealt with his own bullying issues over the years and understands how best to resolve this nonsense without too many issues.
My take: Todd’s making the “mistake” (a well intentioned one) of giving her space to handle this problem on her own. He’s just occasionally making comments/asking questions to make sure he has a grasp of the situation in case it all goes worse.
We all like to think (or well, a bunch of us people do anyway) everyone can handle their own problems on their own, but sometimes people can’t. It’s a difficult needle to thread of when to stand back and let someone fail/learn on their own/succeed despite what it looks like form the outside, and when to step in and offer help – and how much help to offer (because while offering help might be taken well, offer too much or too little and it could be insulting the person you’re offering to). It took me a long to figure out some of those rules… and I still don’t understand them all because everyone has different thresholds for wanting/needing help.
Especially because I’m one of those people who prefers to ask for help, and specific types/amounts of help, and take it very poorly when people step in to “take over things for me”.