I swear the next scene will be something not actively making things worse for Talita.
Transcript
Talita: I don't think me being his boss is working out. Could you transfer him to internal mechanics?
Mel puts a hand on their hip and thinks, expression doubtful.
Mel: Well… it’s only about a week until his contract expires. Could you possibly stand waiting that long? We wouldn’t really have the time to retrain him, and your team is already short a member.
Talita leans her face against a hand and looks away, dread and exhaustion closing in on her like the ceiling pressing against the back of her head.
Talita: I… I guess.
Mel: And if you'd rather I have a chat with him, let me know!
The connecting tail of their speech bubble passes over Talita's face, as oblivious to her distress as Mel.
142 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 232”
Chickenfox
The framing of this uncomfortable, suffocating scene in a room where Talita is compressed by the ceiling is such great way to represent how she must feel to not have her needs understood. Resonates. 😭
Scyphi
I mean…I do kinda get where Mel’s coming from on this. Personal problems aside, work still needs to be done around here, and part of their job is to make sure that gets done efficiently. And Talitia IS kinda sending a whole lot of mixed signals over all of this, whether she means to or not. So I get why they’d rather try and find a compromise for this, to try and appease both sides of the matter as equally as possible.
But as we all know very well, a compromise isn’t what’s needed here. And recognizing that is where Mel’s really falling short here.
Pitterpatter
Thanks for being useless, Mel.
rex
Fr it’s really frustrating and rage inducing >_> I literally thought ‘OMG stop being useless!!!’
Pitterpatter
The worst thing is actually knowing people like that IRL.
harley
Mel is the kind of person who I had to deal with in school, from basically all staff, and as a disabled, gnc queer trans person, it made school, hell because they would all act EXACTLY like this.
Rarely ever is just ‘talking to an adult’ an option, because the kind sof people we have to deal with WILL retaliate if they know who ‘snitched’, which puts my life DIRECTLY in danger. Mel you will be boiled
40
THATS WHAT IM SAYING! im gonna get found out for reporting anything and anyway the faculty probably agrees with whoever i think is a problem!
Dylan Pickle
Oh my god I have only just now realised the foreshadowing of Adam grabbing Yoas horn, then grabbing Talitas antler… Yknow now that I’m typing this it actually is kinda crapy that Talita didn’t report that to Mel in the first place even though it would have most likely been fruitless. I understand that this is a very real experience of bullying and having things add up over time without being tangible, but Talita should have done more than told Adam to stop in the moment in regards to Yoa. While Adam grabbing someone’s jewellery is not quite the same as Adam grabbing a part of her body and yanking her head with it, it is still deeply inappropriate in similar ways. Yoa seems to be the only temp so far aside from Clayton to actually be professional and not participate in the bullying against Talita. While it 100% was a kinda awkward to ask Talita about her velvet, unlike what the others have been doing it seems to have come from a place of genuine curiosity as opposed to degradation. Xe seem to be based on there quietness at least somewhat antisocial and shy, and I think the only times we have seen them openly expressing emotion have been the horn incident, the time xe saw Talita in the apartments, and during the antler incident. I wonder if asking Talita about her antlers was xer way of trying to talk to her, to extend an admittedly awkward, olive branch? And then Adam ruined that and seemingly made them feel quite guilty. I wonder if xe will try to talk to Talita or text her to apologise? But I suppose with quietness they very well may just silently feel bad and not bring it up again. Who knows! The subtle foreshadowing and pre establishment of Yoas interest in horns and antlers is just, chefs kiss!!!! I am absolutely loving this writing and the writing of Mel makes me so disgustingly itchy in a way that is just truly brilliant! Keep up the amazing work Jay!!! The art is just incredible as well as always obviously (:
evileeyore
Ideally Talita would have written Adam up for the bullying of Yoa incident, even just a mild incidence warning without punishment would be enough to have tracked the pattern at this point, but Talita has not had a good manager to train her how to manage unruly people, and Mel is setting a terrible example here.
Vinemaple
Yao, not Yoa.
poobos
mel reminds me of my landlord 🙁
Kree
You absolutely do not need to ride out the week with a guy like that, that’s like the easiest “Don’t bother coming into work tomorrow” conversation to have with Adam.
anon
Mel is such a well written character. Clearly well intentioned but they also suck at it. I can see why Talita is both grateful for their help AND exhausted by them.
CaptainStroon
The “we are a team” poster in the background is such subtle storytelling.
AsTheJayFlies
and the silhouettes are *typ* humans, to boot…
Vinemaple
Oh, damn, thanks you two for pointing this out, some things just haven’t changed in this timeline
Gar G
Poor girl…
halley
she’s pressing further and further against the ceiling 🙁 im sorry girl
Heather
“Isn’t the water pressure down here deadly?”
halley
yo wtf what happened to my frowny. i did not use an emoji
Nikki
if adam had done to a human or avian what he did to talita he would have been fired immediately.
Chase Wanderstar
Eh, he also swiped Yao’s horns that one time. Then again, Yao 1: is buff, and 2: has artificial horns, which he messed with while still detached. But yeah, if he grabbed an avian by the beak or tugged on Killian’s ginormous tailer ears it’d probably be far less readily dismissed.
eden
also no one actually reported adam grabbing yao’s horn
Chase Wanderstar
That too, yeah.
Adam
Yoa seemed really sweet a few pages ago when she was curious about Talita’s antlers and worried if it hurt. I get the feeling she’s non-prejudiced but clueless, she isn’t trying to discriminate against Talita, she just doesn’t realize what she’s doing. My girl didn’t deserve that.
arf
Ah, difficult people: who hasn’t encountered a few of them in their workplace? (I once had a manager more interested in setting his underlings up to look bad than getting the work done. Not the problem here, but it shows how variable the situation can be)
Talita’s feelings aside, my main concern here is the potential for a serious accident to occur.
Taking everything into consideration (time left, work schedule, lack of options), I agree with Mel that Talita should try and put up with the situation for a week.
However, Mel should at least try to work out with Talita how best to handle Adam going forward, and seek updates on how it’s going. (Talita needs some training. Being a skilled engineer does not automatically translate to managing people. This is a misconception that is still clearly cropping up in the whatever century this is)
Oh well, We shall see what transpires…
Mr. Son
The not-meant-to-be-ironic poster in the background is really salting the wound, huh?
Stray Cat
I mentioned a while ago, I’d ask a former manager I knew how they’d handle this situation. This is what I got:
– Talita had kept saying everything was fine, up to this point; they’d want to know why she didn’t mention what was actually going on, as if they’d known, they could have dealt with Adam sooner. (They stressed that given the circumstances, Talita wouldn’t get in trouble; nothing more than a “please be more transparent with me from now on”.)
– Since Adam’s contract expires in a week, pull some strings to ensure he doesn’t interact with Talita for that week (which would more likely be allowing Talita some time away from her regular duties) – and warn other employers not to hire him. Also, perhaps, do a background check on Adam.
– If possible, help Talita get therapy and a support group. Sure, Talita is the only human-raised centaur we know of, but surely she’s hardly unique in being a victim of harassment from other species.
– Or, failing these solutions: get Talita in contact with a lawyer; help Talita find a new job; ask to have all of Mel’s decisions in writing.
Nikki
in other words “boo hoo everyone has to deal with stuff. look at me for instance, i have to do paperwork and talk to whiny employees! just put up with it so we dont boof productivity.”
Nikki
im starting to have misgivings about the orphan-to-wageslave program 🙁
IncompleteMachine
just Orphan-to-wageslave?
PostMortem7581
Once again, masterful use of composition and framing. The way Mel’s speech bubble literally cuts through Talita… Beautiful. Haven’t seen a comic use its medium like this in ages.
The Opossum Witch
Couldn’t have said it better myself! The way the camera zooms in on Talita thus squeezing more and more of her out of frame while Mel *takes up* more of the frame is genius
Ticanaru
The speech bubble wrapping around her like she’s an obstacle here, that she’s blocking their conversation. 10/10
AsTheJayFlies
and mel getting blurrier and more out of focus, highlighting how out of touch they are. ohouhaouhg
godspeed
What really horrified me is, that she is told that somebody grabbed a person and Mel goes, oof what’s the big deal. If I told somebody that I was grabbed, especially in a facial area, like hair or ears, they would be shocked, unless a toddler/baby/pet or close friend they know of is involved.
Can you stand being harassed a little longer? Sure, it’s humiliating but I am used to it now 🙂
Mel really /does/ see other people as trophy projects, do they.
BravoLimaPoppa
Good Lord.
I’d love to see this as a letter from Talita to Ask A Manager.
Stray Cat
Runaway to the Stars and Ask A Manager was not the crossover I expected – or knew I wanted.
mossrabbit
knowing mel only fostered talita from when she was 18, and seeing how much this conversation took a downturn so fast, it just makes me ache for mel’s kids. imagine being raised by somebody who thinks you can just negotiate and wait-and-see all your problems away. coming home from a long day of school after getting bullied, trying to explain to your parent what happened, only to get brushed off with “ill talk to them about it, okay?” with no real action promised, over and over.
i don’t think mel was exactly a BAD parent, but as i said before, their kids don’t call them back for a reason. their intentions may be good, they may be a kind person and do their best to be thoughtful, but in practice they are too dismissive of the damage that being nonconfrontational causes, too keen to maintain the status quo and avoid rocking the boat, and too idealistic of other people’s behaviours. in an isolated situation, this would’ve just made them annoying but reasonable. in this managerial and parental position, however, it casts a shadow of ‘one day youre going to wait-and-see your way into a major lawsuit’ over them.
like adam, they’re shockingly realistic. adam might be the more obvious antagonist, but mel also serves the narrative as a foil to adam (i think thats the right word for it). their harm to the characters in the story is more subtle. i mean the story literally opens up with calcery moving away, and we later learn theyre moving away because of mel. mel is the one whose secretly bringing some kind of surprise to talita, that she knows for certain she will hate. mel is the one who wont do anything about the temps. adam is an asshole but mel’s the driving force behind the story with their inaction and unwillingness to listen to criticism.
the questioner
Where is it mentioned they’re moving because of Mel?
mossrabbit
chapter 1, page 18, panels 2 and 3. not DIRECTLY stated but the implication is very transparent that cal doesn’t want to be around mel anymore.
wingedhorror
Transcription (chapt 1, page 18)
Calcery: Aw, that’s sweet. I’ll miss you too, Talita. Working with you made this fly-in-fly-out hellhole a much nicer place.
Talita: Haha, well, you too.
Calcery: Say bye to Idrisah and Gillie for me. Spend time with them outside work!
Talita: Yeah, of course!
Talita pauses.
Talita: …Was the fight with Mel really that bad?
Calcery: As attentive as they act, I’m not sure Mel is ever actually listening. But no manager could make staying on Dirtball WORTH it, you know?
Talita: Yeah, I’m honestly surprised Ixion kept you this long.
Calcery: When are you going to leave?
Talita: Me?? I don’t know. It’s fine here.
Calcery: No, it isn’t.
Don
Well said!
DasGanon
Well put.
I bet 1000:1 that Bip sort of already knows all of this (I mean, it’s got all of the public facing data, and has had conversations with Talita, Irdisah, and Gillie, and can get the vibes of the place) and is offering not because it needs it (I mean it’ll help, but it can take as long as it wants) but because they need it too. (Although that might be reading a little to into the obvious “And then they all got on the ship and lived happily ever after!” thing that we’re inevitably heading towards)
Guest
friendly reminder that bips pronouns are they/them 🙂
DasGanon
Oops my bad. (Confused them with Murderbot on the pronoun situation)
FuzzySpiderPawz
God this is why in school I was so non confrontational and still am “erm actually it would be really inconvenient for me to deal with this problem do you think you could stand just suffering? Great thanks and if things get worse I’ll just do the absolute bare minimum that won’t actually fix the problem and end up making it worse”
40
real asf. never in my life has it been easier to report a problem than to just deal with it
Appleeatinggoat
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Mothwingz_
i imagine you falling to your knees screaming no in anguish as the camera zooms out /silly
Rad Internet Stranger
MEL ARE YOU BLIND!? CAN YOU NOT SEE HOW BADLY TALITA IS HURTING!?! IM GONNA JUMP INTO THIS COMIC, BEAT THE SHIT OUTTA ADAM, SLAP SOME SENSE INTO MEL AND HUG TALITA FOR AS LONG AS SHE NEEDS IM CRYING
Yareztli
Talita’s subtle expression of despair and defeat in the last few panels is everything to me.
Guest
i wouldnt even call it subtle! pretty obviously she’s in serious mental anguish and mel just…. refuses to see, or doesn’t take it seriously.
Rose
auuuuuuuugh Talita getting further and further boxed in by the tiny room and scrunching up on the ceiling is soooooooo goooooooooooooood!!!! absolutely agonizing. you’re a genius, Jay
Trees
No, do transfer Adam!
Tod is the internal chief engineer, right?
Tod strikes me as the kind of man who could set Adam straight, and if not Todd can use his secret airbending powers to blast Adam across the room and everyone would no doubt find that very cathartic.
Madame Thunderbone
What does Internal Mechanics do?
glitterboy2098
presumably, repairs to systems wholly inside the habitats of the base. instead of stuff that has be be done outside in vacuum suits.
Madame Thunderbone
Ah, so fixing the zucchini-watering system. Got it. Yeah, that’s probably harder for Adam to screw up than anything outside.
Enai
I’m sure Adam would find or create plenty of opportunities to fuck things up. Avian-only walkways surely must be plentiful in the main habitat, and if he actually listened to Talitas “please don’t climb those and fall to your death” speech, I’ll acquire a hat for the express purpose of eating it. With BBQ sauce and fries.
TeethBurglar
You know with this page reminding us the new, probably centaur, temps are coming in next week I have to wonder the emotional fallout that’s going eventually happen between Talita and Mel. My theory being Mel will pull the whole “it’s a surprise gift for you! Why are you mad at me?” card and Talita once again being forced to justify her feelings and final put much needed space between herself and Mel. Either that or the more dramatic Talita leaving unannounced because they can’t muster talking to Mel who refuses to listen. Maybe, again it’s too early to say but I imagine that’s where this is going.
MyUniverseinaBox
Love the poster in the back about being a team. This is so real LMAO. Workplaces love to yap on about this crap but we all know it’s all bullshit. Mel is honestly a moron, how horrible. This indecent should be written up, reported, Adam fired, what-have-you.
Nickalart
At the end of the day, if Talita had been able to bring more objective things to the table (Adam doing things that could get himself or others killed), Mel would have a lot more to act on as an HR representative. At the same time, physically pulling on another person IS assault and I feel like Mel minimizes that because Talita is so much bigger and stronger than the human temps. It’s a super nuanced and complicated situation and the thought that went into this whole scene is superb.
eden
exactly, pulling on someone’s body part IS assault, and if mel had actually been paying attention and not trying to push talita along because they don’t want to do the extra paperwork, then talita’s statement would have absolutely been enough to look deeper into it, giving talita the opportunity to actually explain the intricacies of the situation. unfortunately mel wouldn’t have cared even if talita had a perfect speech prepared
Thisfox
I suspect that Talita isn’t mentioning the rescue of Adam from certain danger and possible injury/death because of a fear it will become a “she started it” problem at that point, from Mels point of view.
eden
I can see that, I would be nervous about that too, but it’s such a big piece of the situation that it would kind of have to be said, know what I mean?
Nickalart
I also suspect that! But that is only one thing of many that Adam has done that puts himself or others in danger. It seems like Talita is panicking/shutting down because her concerns are being minimized and isn’t able to articulate what exactly is wrong. And like eden said earlier, I don’t think Mel is open to actually listening. Someone else in the comments also pointed out that at the start of the comic Calcery already said as much.
petra
hey, if a fictional story is affecting you super negatively, maybe it’s a good idea to step back from it until you’re ready. otherwise, feeling strong emotions, positive and negative about a fictional story just shows the merits of how good the storytelling is!
Flori
Genuinely I’m sorry to stir the pot but my overwhelming curiosity has won over. What exactly are you talking about here? Your defense of Yao or something else? /gen /nm
ryn
“I swear the next scene will be something not actively making things worse for Talita”
bip and/or gillie and idrisah to the rescue PLEASE
JoB
Next page, Calcery, somewhere in the next galactic arm: “Uhhh did someone just step over my grave … ??”
bryn
mel did you just roll your eyes??