Hi Verengt! Useless lore but their face injury came from getting stomped by a multi-ton livestock animal when they were a kid.
Runaway to the Stars is crowdfunding to become a printed book this April! Click here to be notified on launch!
Transcript
The largest adult centaur with the massive scar on their face walks up to Talita, lower lip down and trunk curled upwards. They are slightly shorter than Talita, with a stocky build, longer body feathers, and no visibly defined muscles like Talita's.
Scarred centaur: You with the wide eyes. You are named Talita?
Talita flinches back, grimacing in alarm with her mane feathers standing on end. The other centaur pauses, lowering their trunk, tightening their lips, and turning their head to look at Talita with their remaining eye.
Scarred centaur: …Sorry, did I approach too quickly?
Talita grabs her face as if to close her jaw.
Talita: N–no, you’re fine! I–uh–didn't expect to be meeting you all so soon. …What were your names…?
Verengt: We are the Gwailer clan. I am Verengt, the matriarch.
Verengt points at their face with two extended center fingers. Their trunk is curled up, nostrils flared, and their eyes half-lidded.
189 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 257”
Selkra
Not me projecting my anxiety to Talita’s situation here and wanting to immediately spill “Hi I was raised by aliens so if I’m out of line in any way it’s because I literally didn’t know I was” XD
Spiral
is verengt nursing ? It looks like theyre wearing one of those maternity cloaks and there’s lil lumps under it !!
Jordan Aster
You there! Bug-eyed one! Hello!
Kencf0618
Speaking as an autistic, it’s very helpful that they’ve been briefed. She’s a fish out of water, as are they.
The Opossum Witch
God I love that in panel 2 that seems like a friendly expression but I know they are actually startled/cautious and that in panels 1 and 5 they have the equivalent of a polite smile but seem cooly stand-offish to me. UGH Jay you do such an amazing job making aliens that seem ALIEN
Noodlederg
oh goodness, i only just realized in the first panel Verengt isnt just giving a friendly trunk smile but the lip and nostril flare too, theyre delighted to meet Talita! and then Talita immediately scares them (thin pupil, slightly tensed lips) ToT 5 seconds in and already tragical miscommunication
Page
I just realise something, Talita’s face, while still clarly alien, is WAYYYY more stylized than the other centaurs!
Look at the emphatic lines on panel 3, or the sweat drop on panel 4; those are clearly elements put there to make her expressions readable at a glance (to us) and, by contrast, making all the alien characters feel alien TO US READERS.
THE GRAFIC IS PUTTING US IN TALITA’S WIEWPOINT THAT’S AMAZING
Bramble
I’m not sure how much it’s that she’s more stylized and how much is actual physical differences. She’s got several learned behaviors in how she emotes that explicitly imitate human faces, especially in how she holds her eyes/eyelids and her mouth. She’s also got lighter eyes, which look more cartoony.
Kencf0618
I was just thinking that. We have yet to see natural centaur gestures, body language, etc.
They’ll have a lot to learn from each other.
anon
Verengt’s colors are SO pretty, I love the dark stripes on the pale base
moki
interesting little detail i just noticed…. the new centaurs really seem to raise their trunk when speaking, where as talita tends to tuck hers quite often while speaking. i wonder if this is sort of like the human version of someone who mumbles all the time lol
forthebit
I think that Jay confirmed once that Talita talking “into her neck” is a bad nervous habit that equates to mumbling, yes, along with the way she grips her neck with her hand.
F657
From the perspective of a Homo Sapien, that scar looks straight up unsettling. Maybe because of my species biology, nothing that looks that way should still be alive and functioning.
The benefits of not having all your brain in your head.
Pocket Whale
Right 🥹 there’s a part of me that wishes so hard that Talita could fit in with these centaurs and be able to find out about her own heritage. I just hope Mel being “helpful” and springing an entire clan of centaurs on Talita isn’t too traumatising for our poor girl…
Pocket Whale
Oops sorry i meant to reply to Mango The Captain. But I also agree about the matriarch looking quite unsettling. Stunning character design.
Kencf0618
I’m new to this webcomic, and that makes sense. Their brain to body mass ratio vis-à-ours would def. be interesting to know.
Mango The Captain
They’re being so polite (wide watery eyes emoji) (I don’t know how to add emojis)
Mango The Captain
They can definitely tell that Talita is startled, even with different body language, that’s so cool!
Enai
🤔 my phone’s keyboard (fossify keyboard) app has an explicit emoji keyboard that works for that.
If it doesn’t, some smileys like colon: round bracket) are rendered as emojis 🙂 I don’t know which combination gives 🥺, though.
bug
fuuuck its a clan. its over
Mountaincide
I absolutely LOVE the expression in the 2nd panel omg
zofifi
Huh? Did Verengt just smiled at Talita the human way? That’s very thoughtful of them. I don’t know what Mel told them all about Talita, not much knowing them, but I can bet money that Verengt is a smart cookie. so far they seem polite and observant.
Jay Eaton
You are seeing something that looks like a smile to your human brain and assuming it could have no other meaning to centaurs.
Oceanblue
I think Verengt is smiling in the first last panel. Relaxed, closed mouth and an upturned trunk iirc.
Mitta
They are grimacing in surprise/confusion at Talita’s terrified facial expression
Claire
I forget often just how RIPPED Talita is. This must be quite the sight for the new centaurs, seeing this muscular lady who’s also a nervous wreck…
Vinemaple
It occurs to me that Talita’s antlers will also be a little weird, although a spacer clan would be used to other Centaurs being in different parts of their biorhythm.
Mogo
Wow I love how you can really see the muscle difference between them, the new centaurs look so soft and round compared to Talita. They got that layer of healthy fat she’s missing. It makes them look much cuter haha! Also lol at Talita starting at their trunk instead of the rest of their face, the exact thing she hates when humans do! Bet she’s gonna think about that when she overanalyzes this entire exchange during the night.
A Box Of Fox
How very soft and fluffy! Friendly momma! I want to hug the huge fluffy momma friend but might get squoze too hard if the Gwailer in general or Verengt in specific are unfamiliar with how gentle humans need to be hugged, also it would probably be rude to ask a very fluffy stranger for a hug anyway.
0xabad1dea
I have an extremely fluffy dog who is literally bigger than I am (I am a normal human adult). You may ask to hug him; in fact you needn’t even ask, the answer is yes and he’s already barreling towards you.
HippityHop
Oh what a beautiful trunk smile, they’re seem sweet. I wonder if the human-like smile is on purpose to help calm this centaur in human clothes? It works on actual humans, why not this weirdo? Could just be nothing though.
Viashino_wizard
the human-like smile is actually a centaur grimace of concern if I’m remembering correctly.
40
I love how they point differently than Talita would.
$ilverware
I’m having a second-hand social anxiety
Finch
YAY! SHE’S CHILL!! (As far as we can see🤞)
I haven’t seen the facial expressions explanation for Centaurs, but I can see that Verengt is making an effort to understand Talita and make the interaction easier for her. I REALLY HOPE that Mel briefed them about Talita, even if Mel didn’t brief Talita about them 😒
Then again Talita is Mel’s kid to some degree, they might not have been able to stop talking about her. Such is the pride of a parent!
Mikah
They really seem to be excited to meet her. I doubt Mel gave them much to work on except for “you’ll be working with a centaur :D” just based on everything else about them but maybe. Just maybe. We can hold out some hope.
In case you’re interested in my read, from what I understand of the chart (on Jay’s tumblr somewhere, though can’t find it rn) the panels can be broken down as:
1st Panel: Very excited/happy as they greet Talita.
2nd panel: Turning head to look at her with remaining eye, expression of mild shock/surprise at Talita’s reaction (her expression reads as mildly aggressive shock to me from a centaur’s POV).
4th panel: Neutral (all visible centaurs except Talita are).
5th panel: Friendly/elated, less intense than first panel but not just “happy” either
Over all they seem quite excited to be there and to interact with her so far.
Archieve
As nice as it would be for Mel to talk about Talita in a helpful manner from what we’ve seen of the character answers Mel saw themselves as more of a college sponsor then a parent and the Matriachs pause suggests she was not given enough notice from Mel on how to interact with Talita. Mel seems to think that Talita will just naturally know how to communicate with them through exposure so they might not think the clan needed any warning about the extent of Talitas lack of exposure to other Centaurs.
forthebit
Can I just say that I always really appreciate the page transcripts? They so often call my attention to details that I otherwise might have glossed over, and I love the additional layer of immersion they bring to the comic.
apprenticeNerd
I hope Verengt gets added to the Characters page at some point, I love them
ryttyr
I love how you were able to make them look kind and gentle despite them missing half their face. Really shows that physical disfigurations doesn’t have to define you as a person, as is sadly far too often seen in fiction.
ry
i wonder how old verengt is. initially i assumed they were like 10+ years older than talita, but now i’m wondering if they’re actually around the same age. that might exacerbate talita’s insecurities around homeworld centaurs, interacting with one around the same point in life as her, but leading their own clan. meanwhile, she’s struggling to manage a group of temp workers
Jason Myers
Talita doing her best here!!! Hoping the friendly vibe keeps up aaaa ;A,
business_pear
I imagine Verengt sounding like the Khajiit women from Skyrim (voiced by Pam Cholet).
S0glet
Shes smiling at Talita how sweet 🙂
I don’t think Talita knows how freaked out she currently looks rn to them tho lolll
MonstieMunchies
its so metal that you can see Verengts eye socket
Finch
Ohhh, I assumed that was the contours of her nasal passages, but I can see the socket, now that you pointed it out! Wow!!
beth
I really hate Mel right now.
MisterLuK
I feel like I’m anxiously watching two pet cats that have just been introduced to each other lmao
Famout
Human? Meet Centaur, Centaur? Meet human.
Aleris
Verengt seems so sweet so far I hope the clan stays nice 😭
Eux
oooooooougouoguh oh man. this is so good. i hope this first meeting goes well
Zidane
I love the little trinket/pouch Verengt is sporting, with the six legs on it im assuming its based on a centaur homeworld creature, very cool detail
MutableAlias
the transcript on the page we first see them says it’s a chatelaine, which apparently was a decorative belt clip that held small tools and keys on chains, and was a symbol of the woman of the house’s wealth and authority over domestic matters
so even though that’s a human thing(? maybe it just organically arose from some centaur cultures too), the word choice tells us a lot about function and social role
Cobbington
Okay the matriarch seems very sweet so far, thank god
Rose
the matriarch is being so polite omggggggg i love them TT ^ TT)
Hunter
Okay, that’s good; she’s being cautious and considerate of Talita…
MutableAlias
Still in love with the centaurs’ expressions being inverted with humans’ at times, like how Verengt tempering themself looks far more like an intentional friendly smile than their actual intentional friendly smiles. And how Talita truly is visibly freaked out but additionally looks aggressive when she isn’t. And it’s not like there’s no similarities, both centaurs and humans have wide eyes for both intense aggression and fear, and the tightening of the mouth into a grimace can be the same, but the differences like resting lid position, and up- or downturned corners of the mouth, change everything. Two systems that are similar but sometimes incompatible. the mental gymnastics is so cool
Solidago
YAY the matriarch seems very kind! As expected of a leader-parent. Mel must have been explaining Talita’s background to the clan just now.
PostMortem7581
Verengt is so mama. I love them
Daredevild
I was really nervous for what was to come but Verengt has charmed me with the expression in the second panel. Verengt I like you lots PLEASE I hope nothing goes terribly wrong
Gheesfellow
Oh hi Verengt, I’m Outtahere
Quad
One of the differences between Talita and other centaurs’ mannerisms that I find cool and interesting is where they point their heads. Talita always seems to point her face ‘dish’ forward, whereas most of the time I see centaurs put their trunk forward. It could partly be that Talita’s used to talking to people a lot shorter than her, and so has to look down a lot, but I think her face also looks a bit more… human-ish when she points her dish forward? And she doesn’t point her trunk at people anyway.
I’m so happy to finally see Verengt speak!! I think it’s ironic how their ‘oh, was that too much’ face almost looks more friendly to a human, because of their mouth line and open eyelids, than their friendly neutral face. It’s cool to see some centaur hand gestures, too! I’m thinking the two middle fingers pointed up is for a greeting, and maybe something in there indicates their status, too..
Vinemaple
I notice that in the transcript, Jay describes Talita grabbing her face “as if to hold her jaw shut.”
To me that implies that Talita is thinking, “don’t open your mouth don’t open your mouth don’t open your mouth” as one of the few lessons she’s learned the hard way about talking to normative Centaurs…
Verengt looks fluffy I would beg to pet them
milk4evertoasted
I don’t get the past theories of “They won’t respect her authority!!”, because Verengt *does* care. Our brains are reading centaur faces like >:-( all the time because they have half lids. They probably have half lids as an expression of calmness because wide eyes signal attention and aggression, probably even in their ancestors. Kind of like how baring teeth is aggressive, full attention is too.
I can see Verengt and their clan fully be sweethearts because Centaurs are very touchy-lovie and their clans are essentially just big families… it makes sense. Talita doesn’t need a clan to be respected within dirtball, although it would help with some internal assumptions!
Verengt is already being polite and kind!! They have a soft expression and do take into account that she might be jumpy or anxious or a little scared… fingers crossed anyways.
Storm
God they seem nice but you know SOMETHING is gonna go wrong
Asternautilus
Im 10000% speculating based on vibes alone… but.. i have a horrible gut feeling that mel has essentially facilitated a horrific miscommunication (or worse, purposefully planned) where this clan thinks that Talita is meant to *join them* or something..
i could see it all in mels head… “i found you a whole CLAN talita! isnt that great? you just have to adapt to all their cultural habits and then you can live your centaur life with others of your species! fly free my beautiful dove!”
this, of course, would feel like mel has essentially abandoned her or didnt want her- something talita fears and has experienced with human friends before (her childhood friend, cal, and now Gillie and Idrisah.. and bip, all leaving her) while also doubling down on her species dysmorphia- she cant perform normal centaur body language, she doesnt know of this clans customs, ect.
Verengt may be under the assumption that this was a perk of the job, their clan seems pretty small from what we saw, so a new worker would be a boone for them while their pupa/larvae and older chileren are growing still. But from their POV Verengt may start to realize just how big of a “project” Talita is. even if they went in with the knowledge she was different- they may not be ready for just *how* different (whoch we sort of see here with simple greetings)
god i hope im wrong lol but i keep remebering this is the chapter we “see a centaur cry” : ‘)
Vinemaple
You know, this is actually a really, really good theory… especially given how outgoing and sensitive Verengt is being. I can see their understanding maybe being “this poor, poor thing has spent their life alone among Humans, a foundling, but Mel and the others have told us they’re sweet and kind and brilliant and hard-working, we shouldn’t let our preconceived notions about singletons get in the way of good sense and the needs of the clan.”
And meanwhile, I think you may have hit the nail on the head with your theory of Mel’s inner monologue.
Also, a marriage proposal from Verengt would DEFINITELY cut through Talita’s guilt and conditioning, regarding Mel and her duty to others. The way I read Talita, it would FLIP her avoidant behavior from “just ignore the problem and maybe it will go away,” to “I need to be. Somewhere Else. Now.”
Maybe to the point where she texts Bip, “Take me with you. I can be there by 15:00.”
Enai
Oh god. You may be right – Mel strikes me as exactly the kind of person who sort of treats people like complicated things that are happiest / best served when you put them in their right places on an imaginary shelf – an approach that can work somewhat well when “put in the right place” means “have the electronics nerd become an engineer in their specialty” or “give the language nerd plenty of books”, but works much less well when it’s “Hey, you’re Deaf / a centaur / a member of $involuntary_group! I found another member of $involuntary_group who has nothing in common with you, now you shall meet and move in with each other and become the bestest of friends! ^_^”
Ellindsey
This is horribly plausible and entirely in character for Mel. They may very well have been talking this up as a great idea to Verengt, thinking how wonderful this would be for Talita to get to finally join a clan of her own people.
guest
think about this, Mel arranged a marriage for their employee, and the clan agreed to marry in a random stranger whos supposed to be their boss, no mind for their own marriage customs, no mind for them knowing Talita is at the very least from a different background, only on the basis of Talita being the same species as them?
Archieve
This is depressingly plausible since Mel apparently thinks all Centaurs are birds of a feather.
MagicHats
Yeah that’s the big impression I’m getting, though I wasn’t looking at it from a “wed-in” angle so much as I can see Mel accidentally leading Verengt to believe that Talita was aware, ready, and willing for any / all of this and it wasn’t in fact explicitly a surprise for her on Mel’s part (and possibly later getting pissed at Mel about being treated as such).
Like it’s super rude if you consider from Verengt’s position that this person (potentially) hyped up this centaur who also struggles with communication and is totally stoked to join the clan and integrate with centaur society, and totally has been given the rundown and then you show up and it turns out that hey, this is news to the centaur in question and they leave (possibly to wed into a different clan outside of your own) and then you find out you possibly only got hired specifically to dump this centaur on your clan (and said centaur left of their own volition). I could See Verengt either laying into them or lodging a complaint with higher ups and this finally being the one thing that gets Mel to really Listen.
Claire
Oh gods, I think you’re right.
And on top of that, because Talita’s expressions are going to be more human than centaur, Verengt will be primed to re-interpret a lot, which would definitely lead to leaning on externally given information. Oh noo…..
halley
hey wait. is talita AWARE that she’s more or less unreadable to other centaurs? if she wasn’t before, i imagine she’s learning it quite quickly just by being reciprocally confused by the new temps’ expressions or “lack thereof”, but what an unpleasant surprise it would be to find yet another barrier to connection with people from your birth culture
Common Handle
I would assume she’s at least got an idea of how different she acts; she’s met other centaurs before, from what I recall, so she might already have experience. And even if she hadn’t, I’d think it wouldn’t be hard for her to take her knowledge of other sophonts and their behavioral differences (or even the behavioral differences between living creatures in general, like how baring your teeth at some primates is a display of aggression) and extrapolate from That that centaurs would be the same way, even if she had no way of knowing the Specific differences. Or that’s probably how I would approach the situation anyway LOL