When you finally get a jab in at your lame boss š
Because I strongly suspect the comment section is going to get heated: please remember, Adam cannot read your threats, but I have to. Don't say anything overly graphic. Also, while discussions are great fun, please be courteous. I do prune comment threads when they become pointless inflammatory arguments, but I'd prefer if I didn't have to.
Transcript
Adam reaches up and grabs Talita's antler, yanking on it hard enough to swing her head around. He smiles smugly.
Adam: So you can't feel this?
Talita recoils from him with a hand in front of her face, staring in shock. Yao gapes and then looks away fearfully from the two of them.
Talita: What the fuckā
He throws his hands up defensively, still smiling.
Adam: Hey, calm down!I thought you said it doesnāt hurt!
Talita's face bristles in rage.
Talita: What!? That doesn't mean you can YANK on me!
329 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 228”
Callisto
Yeah your hair also doesn’t have nerve endings, it’s all dead cells until the roots. But I’m sure if Talita tugged THAT, Adam might not be too happy.
…I, however, am not going to speak for the other people in this comment section.
Avalon Ranger
And here comes HR Violations McGee!
Hydok
Thinking about all the seasonal temp jobs I’ve worked and all the Adams I’ve worked with and if anyone GRABBED THE BOSS by their FACE they’d have been bounced out quicker than they could say “it was just a joke”, I hope he’s out of there TOMORROW.
(inb4 “she grabbed him” grabbing some fool man who was breaking safety protocols to keep him from hurting himself is excusable even if it’s not professional, this is neither excusable nor professional)
It sucks that Talita’s in this management role that she doesn’t appear to have been really trained for, the “how do i establish professional roles while not seeming like a dick” is such a difficult soft skill when you transition from coworker to manager, and managing these kinds of employees is not easy
audible_smiles
Ugggggghhhhhhh it sucks that this kind of behavior has been a pattern for Talita for her whole life, at least judging by that one side comic where she gets poked in the nostrils with a stick at teenage sleepaway camp. And it REALLY sucks that Talita can’t flip this guy off or even make a clear point about boundaries by grabbing his nose back or something, because she’s an adult now and HIS SUPERVISOR and also much, much larger than him. Jay, I think you are building a pretty strong case for why someone in this situation might say “fuck it” and just leave.
Mango The Captain
Oh man, I didn’t even notice Yao’s expression till I re-read this page.
Adannor
Yeah, he yanked her horns too before. She knows it’s uncomfortable but is bullied down from standing up for Talita.
samkee00
xe/xer iirc
kyrean
The fact that so many people in this comment section is exoticising Talita (talking about hypercarnivorism and the danger of her body like she isn’t a sophont, like she would maul someone) is driving me up the wall. He knows she won’t bite his hands or anything because he subconsciously understands that she is a person, not a wild beast, and she probably gives off enough human body language and social cues to make him feel comfortable enough to treat her with the same sort of disdain he would direct at any human “acceptable target”. He probably also realizes that he can get away with a lot more bullying because she can’t retaliate without being the “scary alien hypercarnivore”, and she knows that too. He’s not trying to be alpha, he’s a cowardly bully-boy and, like most bullies, is picking on the easiest target.
mossrabbit
“Adam shouldn’t do this because she could eat him!” actually he shouldn’t do this because Talita’s a person who has a right to exist comfortably in a public space like everybody else. saying Adam shouldn’t bother her because of her species is not a pro-Talita or pro-Centaur stance.
Kyrean
Exactly! She’s a person and he shouldn’t be doing this because it’s a shitty thing to do to anyone!
Antarctopelta
God yes!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!
Stray Cat
I, personally, can draw a parallel to something I have unfortunately witnessed first-hand. Quote: “You’re a big muscular scary dude, why are you so scared of a tiny guy with a knife?”
Obviously not a one-to-one analogue to what’s going on here, and I have no illusions otherwise – but the parallels are clear to me all the same.
batlychee
…and then he’s going to claim her not wanting to be grabbed is “rules for thee and not for me” and be an even bigger dillweed and hr will either explicitly take his side or do nothing. my eyes are rolling into my skull already.
potatosapien
It sucks how even people in the comments are making a point of mentioning Talitaās otherness and danger to Adam when trying to defend her. No offense to anyone, but itās so interesting how many people, even in the real world, default to thinking of her as āscary hypercarnivoreā first and person second. Itās just likeā¦ augh, I really feel for her here. Even if I havenāt experienced this kind of bigotry, it feels so real in such a painful way.
Frankie
If anything I previously had the expectation that *Adam* would be fixated enough on her perceived alienness/otherness to hesitate with something like this — but that’s my shortsightedness! Of course a guy like this can totally hold a double standard of denying Talita’s personhood/referencing her potential for violence while also realizing that she’d never *really* do anything if he harassed her. Which means he has the potential to leverage both for his benefit: he can be a bully … but who would believe that puny Adam could pose a threat to big strong Talita?
blythe
tale as old as time with humans. you see it presented a lot in post modern works written by black americans (notably, Invisible Man), but people will see stereotypes and labels first and foremost. like calling a disabled person useless vs being so careful it’s patronizing are two sides of the same coin.
Frankie
God, Invisible Man is such a masterpiece. Had a high school lit teacher assign it and it definitely rewired my brain for the better lol
Falconette
Adam in this picture looks like a dumbass high school student. That stupid twig neck of his makes him look young. And yet he is old enough to have been hired and fired at least once. For being an idiot. It is remarkable how well you can see in his very face and design that he is a dipstick manchild who needs to grow the hell up and quit being an absolute tool.
Nikki
shivers down my spine
mustarjil
The most heartbreaking thing about this page is how no one within earshot is standing up for Talita. Maybe the next pages will prove me wrong, but I highly doubt it given how it’s the temps we’re talking about. Great execution as always, Jay.
Arcstone
Having just watched boots on netflix (series about a gay guy going through boot camp for the marines) before reading this page, my very first immediate thought was how much I’d love to see talita going full over the top american drill sergeant on his ass the second he even touched those tusks.
Adam would so get his ass fucking folded in the marines.
edenmachine5457
.btw they’re antlers and not tusks! tusks are continuously growing teeth, antlers are yearly intentional bone cancers basically. despite their placement they are antlers because they grow usually once a year, shed their velvet, and then fall off
Scolopendra
If a centaur deployed the Mk.1 knife hand on me I would die on the spot, not gonna lie.
Arcstone
“the temp cannot climb the ladder if you disable his hand”.
HAL9000
now im thinking of the combat capablity of a centaur in the human forces… i bet there’s a demand for GMH soldiers in RTTS
arf
Adam really needs to have a little information on the dietary requirements of centaurs dropped into his inbox, with a comparison with… I don’t know. Velociraptors?*
Hmm. Now who might be able to pull off such a stunt?
* Talita would never… but Adam doesn’t have to know that, any more than he needs to know the perils of alien protein intake.
JoB
Though, with someone as thick as Adam, there’s some merit to “show, don’t tell” …
I wonder whether Talita would be OK with the team’s shift schedule (suddenly) including common lunch breaks?
Flori
I really doubt sheād be okay with eating in front of strangers. Sheās already self conscious about her body, and Iām sure that includes eating āweirdā food and having two āmouthsā. Also I believe Jay stated that to humans, centaur foods can smell rather rank, which is part of why she asked if they minded her eating during the party chapter.
40
The thing about the smell is that all alien foods smell chemical-y, because yeah they’re all just weird poisonous chemicals.
DanielBro
He knows she’s a carnivore (see page 91).
That actually might be part of the reason he is constantly trying to assert dominance over her..?
Enai
I think so, too. He seems to be the kind of man who tries to pick a fight with the bouncer for no apparent reason and ruins everyone’s fun night out because now they have to pick him up from the police station and give a f$cking witness statement. And he’s like “I’m the most alpha ever. Were you impressed by my alpha behaviour? I was.”
Jordan Aster
Fuck this comment actually. She’s a goddamn person.
holly...!
talita it is me i am the angel on your shoulder i am speaking directly in your ear. you have to punch your shitty coworker immediately there will be no negative consequences punch him NOW
Anax Imperator
Lmao. This is also partly Talita’s fault for failing to express authority over problem workers – we used to have a teacher like her in school and every lesson with us was hell for him. He simply wasn’t a person of respect, thought yelling and giving us extra homework was sufficient but no one cared; we simply didn’t do the extra work.
On the contrary, there was another teacher who, despite of him being only 1,67m, carried himself with authority and confidence – he never felt the need to yell but gave silent punishments when needed. I feel like Talita never had any training in correctly expressing her status as a higher up and, therefore, she only hopes that people around her will just be nice enough to not cause trouble – which leaves her overwhelmed when they don’t.
My take.
Fiona
That’s just victim blaming
Anax Imperator
Don’t deflect. Talita is a higher up to the temps and should carry herself as such – what do you think Adam not only touching her antler but yanking her in front of at least one other person is going to do for her confidence and authority? If you work a job, you’ll know that a healthy distance between a boss and their coworkers is needed to maintain a stable relationship; joking with them or making them feel safe is also building trust so they know they can come to you with problems. But what I’ve seen from Talitas behavior throughout the scenes with her temps is childish behavior where she acts almost no different than a regular colleague.
And the result is exactly what you see happening on this page. Adam’s an asshole but that’s exactly why his behavior should have been corrected by someone capable of executing authority and respect.
bryn
I’m curious, how exactly would you suggest she disciplined him? do you think she has the authority to discipline him in any significant way? what would you call the multiple times she’s corrected him or tried to, like the previous instance of snatching him off the unsafe ladder and asserting her authority? It does sound like victim blaming. and also, you may be vastly over qualifying Talita as someone who can ‘discipline’ her temps when she doesnt actually have that authority. not to mention talita did not sign up for this position; she was thrust into it against her desire. So it’s hard for me to think thats a viable option. also i dont think talita’s demeanor is unprofessional – none of the other temps are bullying her, meanwhile Adam has bullied more than half his team. And Talita has corrected him before on it. How is Talita the problem when the problem is so obviously Adam being an asshole? Him assaulting her came out of the blue from his vindictiveness. And of course Talita has the self control not to retaliate but I refuse to see her self control as weakness in this situation. She’s gotten in trouble countless times over her life for reacting to human aggression and has learned not to knee-jerk respond.
Hubert
Channel your inner Ohwitiil, Talita.
Frankie
Talita has expressed that she is relatively new to a management position and doesn’t feel confident handling the temps. I suspect she is aware that this is an issue, but my sympathy is still with her! I don’t see a conflict between recognizing that Talita is not in her element and also expecting basic decency from a coworker without having to drag it out of them.
izimb
What punishment task could she give to Adam that does not also mean she isn’t responsible for making sure he doesn’t do anything stupid?
I don’t have the full picture but from what I’ve read so far it seems to me that Talita wants to be liked/respected by her temps, they’re not just a nuisance or a job she can fully compartmentalize emotionally, but tries to take it in stride – ruling through fear of punishment will grind her down as she’d have to bend herself into someone she isn’t. She may just be caught in a trap formed by the environment and by who she is.
Enai
Expecting one’s employees to refrain from shit a middle schooler knows is wrong is not asking too much, actually. The adult world of work is not set up to deal well with idiots assaulting their fellow workers precisely because it is expected that you’ve learned to not do that by the time you reach the age of majority.
Talita can’t give him detention. He needs fired. Even in countries with much better worker protections than the US, a stunt like this can rightfully leave you unemployed within the hour.
Vinemaple
Talita has been suddenly thrust into a management position with no training or experience whatsoever, and no consideration for her mental or emotional state. She’s basically been set up to make every mistake in the book, by someone who doesn’t care.
ShadowW
Yikes. And there I thought he was gonna go for the PMS joke…
SeveredNed
He yanked hard enough on the horns of a carnivore to wrench her entire head around. Honestly dude’s lucky that she didn’t have any reflexive action to that happening. Talita could have easily bitten his hand into pulp before realising. Whatever power play he thinks he’s making is not the power imbalance he should be concerning himself with.
Hi itās Jaguar
Tbh, I think any of those fight-or-flight (I guess mostly fight) responses to being grabbed etc. wouldnāt be present after a lifetime of being very careful and making herself as small as she can. When youāre four times the size of everyone you know itās pretty imperative you learn not to injure anyone on accident.
Hi itās Jaguar
Also, it would be kind of impossible to bite in that specific situation, lol. Itās like if I tried to bite someone whoās grabbing my jaw, lol. Physically out of bite range.
Jordan Aster
She’s a damn person… What a nasty comment.
MissZena
This entire page triggered a level of very specific visceral discomfort I never thought possible from a webcomic before
I absolutely hate it, 10/10, stellar writing and buildup, I want to launch Adam into orbit
Rhi
Wow. What a fucking manchild.
Isaac
I am have to comment is āhe screwedā
Boxthing
What an ass!
Human hair doesn’t have nerves, but it still hurts when you pull on it. How would Talita’s antlers be any different?
Hi itās Jaguar
Fr! And whether it hurts or not, grabbing someone and pulling them around is not something you should be doing.
Callisto
I saw this immediately after commenting the same thing, lol
Ember
Got nothing to say about Adam that hasn’t been said, but I do love the detail that Talita is so stressed by this that she forgets to point her trunk-mouth away from people she’s talking to, and the speech bubble reflects that too.
Origamigryphon
Not only that, but her trunk is in the angry S shape.
Brooks
I feel some people are dunking on Adam for the wrong reasons here. āOh, what a moron to do that to somebody with the ability to fold his spine like an accordion.ā Doesnāt matter. Talita can be harassed and assaulted like anyone else, no matter how physically capable of harm she is, and she should be respected and treated with the same courtesy and gentleness you would give anyone else. Even if Talita could melt Adam with her laser eye beams in this moment, it wouldnāt make her feel any less dehumanized over what he did, and all the consequences thatās gonna come from it.
Jay Eaton
The comments of this nature are driving me a little bit insane lmao. Her body does not make her an inherently more dangerous and threatening person than a human. This line of thought is part of why the temps treat her with the distance they do. There IS a dangerous and threatening person on this page, and it isn’t Talita…
YCitroulette
its kind of fascinating to watch some commenters replicate the exact prejudices (that centaurs in general and Talita specifically face) this comic has over and over again shown to be depersoning and degrading as a point of, like, pride? As if they agree with the idea that her body is inherently frightening and a tool of violence but- in a good way? I’m not seriously calling anyone bigoted here but it’s strange to see real people echo fictional (though reflective of reality!) prejudice
bryn
what adam /really/ needs to be scared about is having a boss that /won’t/ save him from a fatal plummet by climbing unstable death traps…..
Brooks
If it makes you feel any better, Iām sure these people arenāt intentionally trying to deflect your themes. Thoughts like āAnd then Talita picks up Adam with one arm and hucks him so hard he leaves an Adam-shaped impression in the wallā are, at least in my experience, a reflex that people have to try to regain some power over the situation. Just like replaying a conversation in the shower and filling in all your previously cringeworthy responses with something that would have been far better. In other words, itās cope, only designed to feel better in the moment.
Try not to go too insane, youāre tackling a very difficult subject for most people to grasp the nuance of, and getting people to understand that can sometimes feel like talking to a brick wall. Youāre doing great so far, so donāt worry š
Brooks
Just one more thought, just on the comic in general. Thereās also the reality of prejudice being alive and well even in the most well-intentioned people. If I worked under an alien boss, especially one as physically imposing as Talita (anyone over a foot above my height already heightens my nerves; I know sheās a sweet gentle soul but she is HUGE and I am so very small), I canāt say with certainty Iād be able to react much better. I can say confidently Iād call Adam out, but I wouldnāt know how to comfort Talita. Maybe Iād even unintentionally offend her or make the situation worse by trying! All under the assumption that I donāt know her entire life story of being raised under humans and with human norms of course.
Anony
Yeeeah it really feels like some people are not taking a moment to think before writing their comments. It’s unfortunate because this whole time the point that Talita just wants to be treated like a normal person has been hammered in pretty hard, only for commenters to still talk about her like she’s some wild animal…. I hope that folks will learn to be a little more thoughtful and respectful
antimony
LITERALYYYY as if
a) humans aren’t ALSO apex predators
and
b) he shouldn’t grab Talita for the sole reason you shouldn’t grab ANYONE like that because it’s fucking rude, no matter how buff they are
Heather
Yes!! When Talita complains about the temps on page 53, she’s frustrated that “they’re worried that if I get mad I’ll flip out and maul them or something.” The temps’ skittishness and Yao only starting a conversation to ask about Talita’ biology (as opposed to asking about her interests, how her weekend was, etc.) are not as bad as Adam’s physical assault, but all of these exist as examples of the ways the temps–consciously or unconsciously–don’t see her as a person worthy of respect equal to themselves. It’s pretty clear that Talita doesn’t want to be seen as a ferocious monster, a unique curiosity, OR an animal to yank around. She wants (and deserves) to be seen as a person.
DeathbyPixelz
Oh my god this guy sucks so much šš
MicahSeacole
Talita’s reaction is very understandable, especially since this was entirely unprompted in the context of this conversation, but I would bet that Adam will pull a “you mean like you grabbed/yanked me off the ladder” in the next page in response to what she just said. And he does have a point with that.
Her behavior on the last two pages would have been justified and understandable to other characters in the comic if she had complained/mentioned Adam’s previous behavior to someone higher up before. Now it will just seem like a random overreach (hah) that is completely irresponsible and inappropriate.
He makes me so angry, I hate him. Well written characters you’ve got there.
Hi Itās Jaguar
I think at this point there is more than enough grounds to have him fired or at least punished for reckless/disrespectful behavior in the workplace. I know you donāt like interfering with things Talita but itās time to talk to Mel (before Adam ends up ruining something way worse)!
Scyphi
I’m starting to think this guy WANTS to get fired.
mossrabbit
not technically out of the question believe it or not. his character page states he explicitly doesn’t want to be here! there is a possibility for this to be a branch off the “acting out so you get kicked off the baseball team” thing that kids and teens sometimes do when signed up for something they don’t want to do.
flurffle
Ohhh nooo Yao was (in my very humble takeaway pls be gentle) just trying to relate about antlers as a conversation starter cuz xe literally just noticed Talita’s velvet was gone and now it opened the gate for Adam to tromp all over it š
Ruining moments that might otherwise be kinda ok is his real job I swear
(I’ve seen comments say that it wasn’t the best thing for Yao to bring up off the bat, but I wish Talita could talk to xem and they’d sort out some kind of budding acquaintanceship since to Yao xe might not’ve known how to start so just chose the simple-seeming topic of her antlers so maybe were looking for something they both shared to talk about… That and, as previously mentioned, Adam just HAAAD to Do Something. As usual. lol)
(Also plsplspls be gentle w me I’ve never commented before but I felt for Yao and Talita real bad TTuTT)
tyrone
Since everybody just want Talita to curb-stomp her tormentor into a messy puddle of pulp on the floor , right here and now , then let me be the voice out of sync . Maybe Adam is hopelessly in love with Talita and does all those awkward and futile things to gain her attention but just make him seem like a jerk…If not, then he is just a jerk. Same result.
AmbroseTV
if adam is in love with her (doubtful) perhaps he should stop being 5 years old about it