Oh, wow, did someone actually did a good job sourcing this group??
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Transcript
Verengt gestures to the three smaller adults behind them, who each have a single trunk bar piercing. Two are light in color with thin black stripes and one is darker with wide stripes that break into spots. They all wear ornamental combs and collars.
Verengt: This is my entourage: Yaunda, Pay, Jachipt.
The three of them point at their faces with two fingers as their names are said. Verengt turns back to Talita.
Verengt: My workers are currently occupied with the move. You will lead my workers during our stay here. They are my children, I am trusting you to keep them safe. Bring any concerns you have with the arrangement to me.
Talita: Yes, of course. How many will be on my team?
Verengt: We have 8 able adults.
Talita: Do they have…
She looks at Verengt trepidatiously.
Talita: Any prior experience with working in exosuits…?
Verengt: We have worked for a recycling operation in microgravity.
189 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 258”
ProfessorBubbles
At least Mel got something right
Hi it’s Jaguarsoup
Gosh I really hope the other centaurs don’t think Talita is being rude. I feel like not pointing her trunk at them when she’s talking might be like some equivalent of not making eye contact, plus she doesn’t know to do that little hand gesture greeting the others have been doing. It seems like Verengt understands Talita is nervous, so maybe she’ll cut her a bit of slack. I doubly hope that they don’t think Talita is being rude/uncomfortable because of Verengt’s scar/facial difference! They’ve probably had their fair share of people being uncomfortable/weird around them because of that, and this is already awkward enough for Talita without the added misunderstanding.
Phosphene_eyes
I like this group already, they’re so caring to Talita. Pay already interests me and Verengt is so kind and genuine! I hope Talita and the clans relationship doesn’t falter after more interactions… (and I hope Talita feels more comfortable around them over time, Mel really didn’t think ths through haha)
Solidago
Come on Talita, you could try to smile!
..Does she even know that they’re smiling? I imagine her previous encounters with centaurs have been too brief for her to internalize much about facial expression. And while there are definitely resources on the internet about reading centaur faces, I wouldn’t be surprised if she has avoided looking at them.
These centaurs’ expressions and body language look so much more natural than Talita’s.. It helps that she comes across to us humans as nervous and not knowing what to do with her hands, but still you can see that the way these native-culture centaurs carry their heads and hands and speak from the trunk is natural for their bodies.
Thinking back to Talita’s conversation with Mel about Adam.. They did well sourcing the clan, and seemingly on briefing them, but they’re still “doing what Talita needs, not what she wants” as a parent in a pretty clumsy way! Oh well, at least Dirtball will be a workplace able to accommodate centaurs from now on. That’s pretty cool.
Timid Centaur
I love Verengt, they seem so nice, even though they’re calling out Talita’s bug eyes lol.
It’s interesting seeing the contrast between her and the other centaurs body language.
Even though half lidded eyes are the default centaur expression it’s hard to read Pay’s expression in the last panel as anything other than a lil peed off, I would be overthinking everything if I were Talita.
On that same line of thought I’m really curious to see what Jachipt is like..
Hi its Jaguarsoup
Ohmygosh yeah I was too busy thinking how they would be reading Talita, I hadn’t even thought of how she might be reading them. A misunderstanding on both ends here, maybe. Poor Talita
Oceanblue
Verengt’s belt accessories look like Chatelaine!
Tumorhead
I really like the contrasting gestures. ie her trunk pointed right at the listener vs Talita’s curled under. ahggggg Talitaaa
BigRiver
When I was looking back at the sophont culture notes earlier, I was wondering whether we would see eshik representation in this entourage, but they can’t be Shess…no hats! Nightchaser nomads, I presume, since they are all Talita-sized or smaller, with mostly lighter coloring and the upper trunk bar piercings. Jacipt might be married in Shess or Shta? But presumably male, given the height difference between him and the matriarch. IDK really, presumably there is a lot of individual variation in every species, and mixed ancestry is always a possibility. I always feel a bit rude “staring” at fictional people like this, but it’s so interesting to speculate…
halley
jachipt is probably male, just by virtue of being entourage and corroborated by the height difference. they def look shta to me, and the others look nightchaser
arf
Actually, this meeting is going better than I expected… so far.
I think the real fun will begin when these guys spot the Runaway.
Hi it’s Jaguarsoup
True, with their distance vision like Talita’s, they’ll definitely notice it and even more so notice how nervous Talita is gonna be when/if they ask about it..
plover
Talita’s antlers give her age away, but I wonder if she looks young/childlike facially to these other centaurs. Imagos almost always have wide-opened eyes in a lot of drawings I could find. Verengt even pointed this trait out specifically.
The Opossum Witch
foreshortened centaur face ( /x°)
c0rpzet00nz
talita your xenogender keeps fuckin me up in conversation
Noodlederg
i like how you can really Feel how strange Talita looks and acts to the other centaurs and yet! its difficult to identify the subtleties of the the centaur’s expressions. a polite smile, *maybe* a side eye, but beyond that, ?????
I also feel like talita must look very bald to the other centaurs and having fun imagining what the perception equivalent might be. maybe like meeting someone wearing nothing but a sports bra, short pants, and a full toolbelt.
Lezzlebit
ok but wait thats kind of a cool fit. especially since she’s like buff. talita aura confirmed
mossrabbit
honestly that also just occurred to me. she’s covering her whole body but it’s very form-fitting so i almost feels more revealing than the clan having bare chests. from what we’ve seen, centaurs definitely trend towards drapery and skirts, so talita is essentially wearing a spandex suit with a mechanic’s apron and cargo shorts over top of it in.
HOWEVER, centaur modesty standards trend towards being a lot looser than humans, and talita 100% reads as a worker just by mannerisms alone, so they’re probably like “wacky outfit, lol” and not thinking much else
Istas
They might assume it’s for safety/practicality reasons. Someone working with moving machinery or getting in and out of pressure suits wouldn’t want to be wearing flowing clothing during work.
Vinny
The difference in how the other centaur carries themself compared to Talita is so interesting. Not only do they not worry about hiding their trunk away from who they’re speaking to the way Talita does, they actually intentionally keep it pointed her direction when speaking to her even as they look toward their entourage. That’s such a fun detail
Storm
Uh oh, Jachipt didn’t smile
Muse
jay’s said their face is “bored neutral”, so, just didn’t feel like smiling politely i guess
halley
for those curious, jay said this in reply to the sixth comment on the tumblr post they made for this batch of pages
halley
oop, i was counting backwards, it’s not the sixth-oldest but the sixth-newest at time of posting. the last comment on march 28 in my time zone
Scyphi
What, Talita, you seriously thought they’d just hire some random centaurs regardless of whether or not they had relevant experience? Mel may be many things, but they still gotta make sure the work actually gets done and done RIGHT around here.
No, I suspect any problems that arise won’t be from that at all but rather culture clash. But then that has been the whole reoccurring theme of the comic, so…
Though I would still want to hope that some benefit come out of this for Talita, because she has been avoiding her own species culture quite a bit due to how much of an unknown it is to her, and justified or not, it’s probably only conflating the problem. Which is probably Mel’s thinking behind all of this in the first place. Mel’s methods are undoubtedly flawed and misguided, as well as not looking at it from any perspective but their own…but I concede there is a good intention–or a want for it to BE a good intention at least–behind it all.
Well, we’ll just have to see.
T-Bird
I mean, I didn’t get the sense all of the current set of temps had much experience with working in exosuits prior to starting on Dirtball so it’s not a wholly unreasonable question
Enai
Yeah, Dominic in particular (having to be told to only unlatch her helmet in athmosphere, forgetting the radio, I’m sure the list goes on) does not seem to have had much experience with exosuits. Talita is very reasonable to worry about having to instruct the workers in the most basic of basics.
Alternate
‘misunderstanding’ Talita do you keep that antler-quilt hidden from plain sight? (I highly doubt there will be any miscommunication regarding that but its the first thing that came to mind that COULD raise red flags to other centaurs like. ‘what are you doing with a clan blanket thats not yours??’) I’m sure it’ll be somethin else…
Phasma Felis
Oh geez, yeah, I bet that’s gonna be an issue at some point.
HAL9000
i mean, hiring was the one thing mel WASN’T in charge of, so at least one person on this rock is competent at their job (hint: its cheev). i’m personally really hoping for a bit of an expectation-subversion : the clan notices how uncomfortable and unhappy Talita is and straight up echo Calcery’s advice to her: leave. they themselves are a clan of nomads who constantly move on. if an area isn’t working out for you – just leave! that’s the centaur way! i’m hoping if some culture gets imparted to her, it’s that.
halley
JUST WALK OUT
you can leave!!!
work
social thing movies
home
class
dentist
clothes shoppi
too fancy weed store
cops if your quick
friend ships
IF IT SUCKS… HIT DA BRICKS!!
real winners quit
Ellindsey
From the centaur ethnicity page, these mostly look like nightchaser nomads, except for Jachipt who might be Shess or Shta in origin. Whereas I think Talita is of sunchaser nomad ancestry if I recall correctly.
No significance to this, I just was re-reading the Centaur world information page and thought it was interesting to match them up against the ethnicity chart.
halley
they def look more shta to me, based on the blobbier stripes and the hump on the nose. if it weren’t for the shade of their coat and the long stripes i might’ve guessed chuchae, just from how pronounced the hump is
Gar G
Well this is going well 🙂
h. Deimos :}
Hey I’m trying to find those guides to centaur facial expression, does anyone know where to find them?
Zacolyn
Do you mean this one? https://www.tumblr.com/jayrockin/674032871372111872/talita-is-a-weird-fringe-case-with-very-human?source=share
Gar G
Gosh their default expressions look so irritated…
I love it!
Silyon
That confirms what I noticed, actually. Presuming the names are in order from left-to-right, Yaunda and Pay have what looks like a standard freindly greeting. However, Jachipt’s expression is far closer to disgust than the other two, with the trunk down, head turned away and eyes narrowed. Still making a greeting because the Matriarch is there, but has clearly picked up on something about Talita that strikes a distinctly sour note with them.
We shall see, but I know which one I’ll be watching.
h. Deimos :}
Yep! Thanks :]
Oceanblue
Verengt’s belt accessory looks like a Chatelaine. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatelaine_(chain)) I love it! Their clothing overall is gorgeous.
Rhyflwhyr
Oh my goodness! Talita’s face is more angular than the other centaurs! They have a much more hounded head shape.
Jay Eaton
Talita has very low body fat, which would otherwise fill in her cheeks a bit and make her face rounder. Verengt has a stocky build and an average body fat ratio, Jachipt has a leaner build with sharper cheeks more like Talita (albeit they are not shredded).
Phasma Felis
Right, because lots of exercise is her dysphoria coping strategy. (Also I imagine it’s easy to avoid overeating when none of your food tastes very good…)
Istas
I’m only mentioning it because, if I read correctly, I recently learned there are two similar terms with somewhat different meanings.
In the comic Idrisah mentioned body dysmorphia specifically, not dysphoria. Talita might have both given her upbringing, but I just wanted to bring up that difference.
(If dysphoria was mentioned elsewhere by the author then please forgive me and correct me; I haven’t been able to follow all the comic/character lore on all the different platforms as thoroughly as I would like.)
PostMortem7581
I wonder whether Talita’s out-of-season antlers signify anything to this clan about her health or habits. Do they know she’s not getting enough sleep? I wonder what else they can tell about her health at a glance.
Mr B Natural
Do centaur antlers necessarily come in all at the same time planet-wide? I was under the impression the timing was clan- or region-specific.
Phasma Felis
They probably don’t know she’s out of season. If her biorhythms were ever in sync with the centaur homeplanet, decades away would have certainly thrown them out of whack, whatever her habits.
the Inmara
Heck. Travel far enough, even through a wormhole, and relativity will throw all of your clocks off.
ECHO
What I appreciate is that in spite of all Talita’s catastrophizing about the situation, everybody is still polite. I love how the conflict isn’t strictly violent, it occurs through a series of miscommunications or understandings or people simply having different ideas about what is best for them. I can only imagine what might happen here.
Not a cat
I’m low key hoping that the centaur clan decides that for Talita it would be in her own best interest to be somewhere safely AWAY from that incompetent Mel and able to become more confident in her own species and self
Honesty I’m almost wondering if the humans had contacted the Nightchasers or not because something tells me that the culture is different enough that Talita might just have been adopted as a member of a clan… and knowing how humans nowadays think they might not have considered talking to the Nightchasers at all, since well she’s from a different ethnic background, so the clan here might respond to her situation in a new way one Talita hadn’t encountered before (I kinda hope that we can see these centaurs again in the future wouldn’t it be interesting if they decided to teach Talita about her own people- if I met a human raised by a non human species and they acted like her (anxiety ridden) I’d look to help them learn about human life and try to help them be comfortable in their own skin)
Talita Needs at least one centaur deciding to try and rectify the damage caused by her estrangement from her own species and someone who actually cares about her mental well being
Atuada
I don’t think the recommended course of action was unique to the Shess. I think they might still be receptive to marrying her into the worker pool but that’s only because she’s an adult with desirable traits, not a relatively helpless imago. Not sure where the info would be now but I remember reading that centaurs are fairly hostile towards infants that aren’t their own across the board. I don’t think the Gwailer clan would’ve been any different in that regard.
PersonMcPerson
I mean, this whole situation was caused by somebody else deciding the best course of action for Talita. I hope she leaves, too, but I want that to be her decision, not anybody else’s.
Bruce Mickelson
This is a very interesting study in Centaur body language. Note that this is only the top entourage present. The personal jewelry and adornments are nicely varied. Verengt seems to be an experienced leader right off the bat, and has immediately established a clear line of authority and an understanding that Talita has technical knowledge that her workers will need. As long as Talita is thinking about technical matters she seems to have her footing. It is fortunate that the workers already have spacesuits and experience in zero-G. Jachipt seems dubious about Talita, but you cannot please everyone!
un_pogaz
It’s terrible to think that things will gone wrong; they need to gone wrong.
I really didn’t know what to expect from the Temp Centaurs, not except a aggression but I’m still impressed by the consideration Verengt shows toward Talita. It already saddens me to imagine things going wrong.
That say, it only Verengt for now, the matriache, the one which Mel has spent the most time with explained Talita’s situation, and therefore had the most time to prepare herself to act thoughtfully. Problems are more likely arise into the day-to-day interaction with workers, who are much less prepared and open to this unusual situation (a bit like Adam). The most tragic outcome would be if Verengt continued to treat Talita with respect and consideration, but that the matriarch was unable to rein in the behavior of her workers/childrens, because continuing to “protect” Taliat would put her in too difficult a position within the clan and call her status into question.
Recurve
I don’t think we can count on Mel to have adequately explained the situation, considering how much brushing-off they’ve done to Talita
tyrone
It may not necessarily be a “falling out” between the new Centaurs and Talita that set , what we think will happen in RTTS, in motion but maybe rather their skills after Talita has taught them that makes her presence/further employment unnecessary.
I think any sort of rift will happen between her and Mel if any.
Enai
Huh, good point. If these temp workers learn their jobs well enough, they may become so good Talita is no longer needed. Or she may only feel she is no longer needed.
.
Or, there may arise any number of conflicts and cultural misunderstandings that lead to her leaving.
Archieve
Hopefully it doesn’t take the clan being competent for Talita to feel comfortable leaving, she was already unhappy on Dirtball.
TeethBurglar
Cheevwut did an actual good job sourcing the crew…
qoala
Kudos to Cheev for the quality hiring. At least somebody keeps this place running.
Archieve
That’s a great point about Cheevut being responsible for sourcing now. My major worry was based on Mel chosing temps again as Talita told Tod they did for the current humans but looking back it seems Cheevut just recently got promoted so they probably were not in position to source the last temps. Looks like Dirtballs sucess (employee wise) now rests on Cheevuts shoulders.
Archieve
Still possible Mel said a bunch of dumb /misleading things to Verengnt about Talita though since she seems knowledgeable and experienced with humans, maybe she could tell from the tour that Mel is a somewhat unreliable middle manager type.
J0RBITS
Noticing how Verengt is continuously positioning their trunk to face towards Talita while speaking, even when looking away. Presuming this is regular practice with Centaurs, Talita must seem either shy or shifty considering she turns her trunk inwards fairly exclusively. Interesting culture shock here. Also noticing the centaurs making a very specific gesture when introducing themselves… I hope Talita isn’t coming off as rude. She might be.
TheGuy
If I remember correctly, Talita turns her trunk away because she doesn’t like how people stare at it!
J0RBITS
yes, of course! she’s very considerate to her human peers for this, i’m just anxious to see how the other Centaurs begin interpreting her. Their gestures and facial expressions towards each other are so different, it’s bound to cause miscommunication, what with Talita being so adapted to human socialization. The other centaurs might be more wary of her… I noticed Jachipt is keeping their trunk curled in as opposed to the other 3, who are extending theirs towards Talita. Jachipt seems unsure, possibly judgemental… maybe thinks Talita looks suspicious or disrespectful. we’ll find out!
Michi
How is it that after one page of conversation I trust Verengt more than I ever did Mel?
Also those monsters are not all so scary like you made them out to be.
P2Mc28
Right? I feel like I was conditioned to expect something like smug superiority from the centaurs, just expecting everything to continue going horribly wrong. But so far Verengt is like… great.
At first I was eager to hurry up and get Talita out of here and this situation, but now I’m very curious to learn more and see what Verengt will teach Talita (and us!)
Enai
There’s a reason Verengt is the matriarch, and it plainly isn’t them having physically fought and overthrown the last matriarch. They’re obviously a good diplomat, and adept at cross-cultural communication (for starters, they speak Jovian English, as do at their entourage and probably at least some of their workers).
Ash
Given the centaur expressions guide (https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/674032871372111872/talita-is-a-weird-fringe-case-with-very-human) I’m going to say they have a mix of happy/neutral expressions
aves
Jachipt’s trunk is curled in a lot more tensely, and their eyes are much more narrowed, which is making me think they’re (at best) tense about the situation, and possibly affronted by Talita/think she’s being rude? But the other two do seem moderately pleased to be here, which is something!