Well of Souls Forums

novius wrote:And, noticed something else? Even with the handshake all of them still kept a respectful distance, with one exception.

Beryl asked for his permission to touch him just once, but she's definitely using her newly acquired leeway to get into his private space up to the hilt.

Not that she had many qualms about doing so even before that, though.

Her interest could be xenophilia or she is giving him a sort of protection similar to a child

When she met Alex again, Beryl figuratively said she'll be literally mothering him from now on. You can see it whenever Alex asks something. Beryl keeps giving him these very obvious answers, as if his species doesn't have combs or knives. I don't think she sees him as an equal (yet).

Werra wrote:You can see it whenever Alex asks something. Beryl keeps giving him these very obvious answers, as if his species doesn't have combs or knives. I don't think she sees him as an equal (yet).

Well, to a certain extent that's just being scientific... you can't assume that an alien understands the same baseline references that you do.

Arioch wrote:

Werra wrote:You can see it whenever Alex asks something. Beryl keeps giving him these very obvious answers, as if his species doesn't have combs or knives. I don't think she sees him as an equal (yet).

Well, to a certain extent that's just being scientific... you can't assume that an alien understands the same baseline references that you do.

It seems obvious to us that a comb is for combing hair.

Aliens might use a Plumbus or something.

RedDwarfIV wrote:

Arioch wrote:

Werra wrote:You can see it whenever Alex asks something. Beryl keeps giving him these very obvious answers, as if his species doesn't have combs or knives. I don't think she sees him as an equal (yet).

Well, to a certain extent that's just being scientific... you can't assume that an alien understands the same baseline references that you do.

It seems obvious to us that a comb is for combing hair.

Aliens might use a Plumbus or something.

We need to sit down and go watch Disney's Little Mermaid. More specifically the scenes involving the pipe and the fork?

On a more serious note, even though humans throughout the world are the same species the cultures are vastly different. While many things are more homogeneous then they were a hundred years ago, or two or three, there are some drastic measures.

Nudity Taboos. Fashion. Forms of Currency. How many wives are expected a man of position to have, and if he only has a limit of 1, then how many mistresses?

Heck, I spent three years in Idaho, and there is a world a difference in the part next to the Brigham Young University than there is in my Native East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area.

The only thing both Alex and Beryle can be sure of is that they know two things: They are dealing with a potentially hyper violent murder happy race of aliens, and the Shells are creepy.

Sounds like one of my daughters sleep-overs. The girls end up doing hair-things such as braids, etc. Could this horrifying fate be in store for Alex?

Murph wrote:Sounds like one of my daughters sleep-overs. The girls end up doing hair-things such as braids, etc. Could this horrifying fate be in store for Alex?

"Truth or Dare" is another traditional game of such events.

Ithekro wrote:"Truth or Dare" is another traditional game of such events.

"Captain, how many... mating encounters... did you have en route to Naam?"

"Uh... It pains me to think of the... crewmates I lost..."

Ithekro wrote:"Truth or Dare" is another traditional game of such events.

True. So is Alex going to face the peril of "Truth or Dare"? I just wonder what Tempo's game is at this point? Is she going to get involved or is she the manipulator behind the scenes to get Alex to let his guard down? Does she know that Beryl and Alex had a "close encounter", or will she allow another attempt or perhaps Fireblade will give him her favorite blaster pistol?

Playing truth or dare with a bunch of girls, some of them from the intelligence collecting educated bunch, who are telekinetic, may prove to be a very extremely unwise decision.

I wonder how often the bottle would end up pointing towards Alex with a "Truth"-task.

RedDwarfIV wrote:

Arioch wrote:

Werra wrote:You can see it whenever Alex asks something. Beryl keeps giving him these very obvious answers, as if his species doesn't have combs or knives. I don't think she sees him as an equal (yet).

Well, to a certain extent that's just being scientific... you can't assume that an alien understands the same baseline references that you do.

It seems obvious to us that a comb is for combing hair.

Aliens might use a Plumbus or something.

Alex already had that moment where he could have stumbled into a big social blunder, when talks moved towards the gender ratio. Both he and Beryl took away the lesson that there are some marked differences between Loroi and Human, even in things they take for granted.

It has tines, it has something that could be a handle, so it could be used as a comb. But he got handed a piece of a bone blade which has been kept as a memento by Spiral just moments before - so he had enough reasons to just make sure of this particular device's intended purpose and meaning.

And directly asking what this actually is is a better choice with Loroi, since they might not understand the subtext of a question like "Is this what I think it is?" (well, Mizol might get it, but the others I'd be not so sure)

novius wrote: And directly asking what this actually is is a better choice with Loroi, since they might not understand the subtext of a question like "Is this what I think it is?" (well, Mizol might get it, but the others I'd be not so sure)

I suspect the answer to that is "I don't know, I can't read your mind."

Loroi theory of mind must be a bit different to human theory of mind, because they are used to a certain amount of mind reading. Humans only get access to physical information, which makes this whole series a bit of a challenge for us readers because we're missing half the dialog.

I keep wondering: is Fireblade:

1. a soulful woman who's been bashed about by the vicissitudes of fate (she looks quite gentle at times),
2. a violent pain in the arse who's been bashed about by the vicissitudes of fate (she looks quite satisfied after throwing Alex into a wall)
3. just not good at regulating her emotions?

We haven't 'heard' any of her dialogue, so we all make inferences from what we can see and hear. And our inferences might be wrong. I'm keenly awaiting more from her.

kiwi wrote:I keep wondering: is Fireblade:

1. a soulful woman who's been bashed about by the vicissitudes of fate (she looks quite gentle at times),
2. a violent pain in the arse who's been bashed about by the vicissitudes of fate (she looks quite satisfied after throwing Alex into a wall)
3. just not good at regulating her emotions?

"A rival living a lie"

I think she might end up being the strongest ally for Alex among the group other than Beryl. If for no other reason than her sense of duty. She was ordered to protect him, so she will.

Murph wrote:I think she might end up being the strongest ally for Alex among the group other than Beryl. If for no other reason than her sense of duty. She was ordered to protect him, so she will.

Also a sense of sympathy. They are both technically outsiders.

boldilocks wrote:

Murph wrote:I think she might end up being the strongest ally for Alex among the group other than Beryl. If for no other reason than her sense of duty. She was ordered to protect him, so she will.

Also a sense of sympathy. They are both technically outsiders.

Good point.

hi hi

Fireblade has been the sole survivor multiple times herself, so that part checks out.

I think Fireblade might actually become his friend later on down the line. If she can get Beryl to move over....

Murph wrote:I think Fireblade might actually become his friend later on down the line. If she can get Beryl to move over....

She is telekinetic.