Annnd that's the end of the chapter. Can you guess how the title was thematically relevant?
As always, I'll be drawing some character responses to reader questions after the log pages post. You can submit questions for the characters to reply to here (remember to read the rules). This time around I will probably be doing one question response per update to make it more sustainable for myself.
Transcript
The projector on the back of Talita's tablet flicks on, projecting a gigantic version of Bip's icon and their speech bubbles on the ceiling and back wall of Talita's apartment.
Bip: WELCOME, ACCOMPLICES! READY TO BREAK SOME LAWS?
Gillie grins ecstatically, looking at the giant Bip with sparkling eyes. Idrisah looks haggard as a the reality of the situation sinks in.
Idrisah: Is it too late to leave–
Talita: (grimacing) Yep.
45 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 134”
Paroxysmall
the progression of how the character AMA rules have been written is its own story
Lilac
Well they did say it was a nice projector……..
Vinemaple
So, about an hour and a half ago, while looking forward to loading this page for the first time, I came up with my final pre-reveal guess to why the lights went out on the last page: the thing Mel wasn’t listening to Calcery about was the fact that the power plant is on the verge of failure, and Calcery didn’t want to be caught on an unpowered station. Why Calcery couldn’t have gone around Mel for something that critical is something I never figured out.
Googily
Once again, Bip masterfully manipulates the rest of the cast with eye-catching theatrics and now none of them are going to notice how he was absolutely listening in to their whole conversation.
Not meant to be complaining here, just hope one of them calls out Bip for his responsibility-avoidant behavior at some point.
Phlosioneer
Yeeeaaahhhh
Guest
Awww I love you Bip.
Cobbington
Bip is having a Pennywise moment
BravoLimaPoppa
Flair for the dramatic +1.
Also, Gillie, I love you, but your orange side is showing through there.
TotallySomebody
Gillie is a white cat! (I think?)
TotallySomebody
Yep! https://jayeaton.site/Art/RttS/AMA/1
Gheesfellow
If this didn’t look like a deal with the devil before, it does now!
Fallingfeather
I loooove how Bip’s speech bubbles are both representations of sounds (for our use, because webcomics are silent), but also literal within the space so Gillie can read them as well.
DasGanon
Good time to point out one of my favorite words “diagetic” which basically means “seen to the characters, not just the players/readers/listeners”
So Bip has Diagetic Speech Bubbles.
Sen
Bip shows you can be a shifty, little gremlin and people will still love you, as long as you have charisma.
Uh
Bug on the ceiling !!!
JoB
> Can you guess how the title was thematically relevant?
… the threat of being handed a metric ton of zucchini when they show up kept the actual police from busting everyone here and now?
·
“Is it too late to leave?”
“Yep.”
“… alright then.” [chucks tablet out an airlock instead]
TotallySomebody
Bip. Bip I love you.
qoala
It really _is_ a nice projector, isn’t it?
Chrysalis
The feeling when so MUCH good fortune falls in your lap all at once that it starts to feel oppressive and a little ominous, but what are you going to do, NOT accept the free food? (And/or windows of criminal opportunity?)
Anyway, i don’t know about thematic relevance, I’m assuming it’s because Bip’s avatar is kind of zucchini shaped
Vinemaple
No, it’s what you said in your first paragraph! What are you going to do, NOT accept the free opportunities?
Soup
Do Talita’s eyes glow in the dark, like a cats? That’s so cool :0!!
Peter Jensen
Yep, centaurs have a tapetum lucidum like structure. It shows up a number of times in the comic, like when she’s outside working (and I love that attention to detail, BTW). Also a key part of this out-of-current-timeline comic:
https://jayeaton.site/Art/RttS/Comics/TalitaShyamStarlight
Filiya
There’s been a question that’s been bugging me for a few weeks now, but I don’t know where best to ask it.
Apparently centaurs are the strongest of the sophonts. Avians are probably stronger than scuds, and humans are stronger than avians. But how strong are bug ferrets relative to humans? Bug ferrets’ limbs seem pretty thin and they have limitations for building muscle mass. But bug ferrets are heavy, which means they are not weak. Could an average bug ferret beat a strong non-modified human in arm wrestling? How good are bug ferrets at carrying heavy weights?
Vinemaple
Intellectually I know there are many valid reasons for wondering about this, but emotionally I’m concerned about why you think this is important
HAL9000
intergalactic interspecies olympics would be riveting to watch ngl
40
“When it comes to bones, bug ferrets are a weird case. Their distant ancestors were exoskeletal and molted to grow in size. A clade split off from this group that had less molting events during life, instead molting from an exoskeletal larvae into an adult form that had a layer of fat and skin over the skeleton, allowing for continuous growth and reshaping of the bones on all sides by living cells. Bug ferrets are descendants of that clade, but now their only true exoskeletal stage is embryonic. The bug ferret exoskeleton is now tough but springy plates that run the length of their body like a living armor– very useful for shoving your body through dirt and surviving tunnel cave-ins. Some hard plates on the face, like the mouth parts and eye caps, are still technically exoskeletal and get shed annually.
Because of this evolutionary history, most bug ferret muscles attach inside their hollow, tubular bones, such as the retractor muscle of their claws. Fat storage is on the outside of their bones, allowing them to gain adipose tissue freely, but they have a hard limit on how much muscular bulk their body can support.”
40
So I can’t say anything about their average strength, but with squishy bones and finite muscles there’s not gonna be a very high upper limit.
Phlosioneer
I don’t get the zucchini thing 🙁
gabite
zucchini are kind of famous for being easily overgrown. you just kind of end up with a lot of it
Adrienne
I don’t either… I’m guessing either 1. stripes on a zucchini are like the stripes on a prisoner’s clothes 2. zucchinis are very vivacious plants, hard to stop once they get started
Microw
Zucchini are known to be very prolific in terms of how much they produce, and knowing someone who has one means sometimes you end up in situations in which it is far too late to say no thank you i don’t need more zucchini because you have already been given a ton of zucchini before you have a chance to say no
I wouldn’t know this emotion as much however, because for the past few years squash bugs have been very determined to kill my mom’s zucchini plants, and also I love zucchini
Vinemaple
Rashid pushing excessive numbers of zucchini on all the humans is a metaphor for the excessive number of plot coupons (i. e. opportunities to repair and steal the Runaway) that *somebody* (Bip? Jay Eaton?) is pushing on Talita and the Touati-Sharpes.
Gar G
I knew it was theatrics XDD
Alex
Ah, it was just Bip who wanted to make a joke, getting projected from Talita’s Tablet!
Origamigryphon
Them laws ain’t gonna break themselves!! Yeehaw!
Filiya
Ahaha, they are delicious!
Skrymer
Gillie’s face is everything 💖
Cuttlefishman
Wicked page, love it!
Anon
Love this 😀
SoylentRobot
oh my god i just realised its runAway not runway
im so dumb
Paroxysmall
it’s okay i think a lot of people thought/think that too, it would be a cute idea having everyone do a fashion show or maybe seeing/riding in a plane if they haven’t before lol
creetur
Spooking your new friends might not be the best choice, but it’s the small price to pay for a grand entrance.
evileeyore
It almost feels like Talita is partially in on Bip’s entrance, after all she is now holding her phone up to be the projector, rather than down as she was when she started the call…
JoB
Chances are that she wanted to use its projector as a flashlight herself …
Vinemaple
I thought Talita was totally in on it, but looking again at her facial expressions and body language in both panels, I don’t think she is. I think Bip is able to think fast enough to take advantage of the opportunity Talita is giving him with her handheld.