Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
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Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Pocket Historian right now.

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- dragoongfa
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Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Tempo is very sinister all of a sudden, I wonder if she is more worried about Alex and the tablet than Beryl realized. Also remember the "However insincere you choose to be, you shall not find me so" from Stillstorm?
I think that Tempo has been firmly in the Umiak trick/construct/ally team from the very beginning and she is playing the long con in securing information and evidence for the admiralty to come to the right conclusion. The pre-emptive measure of revealing the 'Human envoy' to the Historians and the Barsam was brilliant in its own way, she wants to mine Alex for everything that he is worth; mere torture, experiments and later dissection wouldnt give her that, she needs him to 'open up' and cooperate willingly. She has to be working with certain assumptions in mind, a certain assumption must be the fact that both the Barsam and the Historians would learn of the humans in general. If not by someone 'talking' then by High tech Historian shenanigans. Revealing the human 'first' and giving him a sense of diplomatic protection by recognizing him as an ambassador is brilliant in both pre-empting the damage from a leak about the mistreatment of Alex by the Loroi and by showing everyone that the Humans were an enemy from the start no matter how respectful we were.
Is an other assumption that he is psychologically identical to their males? Perhaps, that's a hard cultural bias to ignore even when you don't have the biological drive behind it.
I think that Tempo has been firmly in the Umiak trick/construct/ally team from the very beginning and she is playing the long con in securing information and evidence for the admiralty to come to the right conclusion. The pre-emptive measure of revealing the 'Human envoy' to the Historians and the Barsam was brilliant in its own way, she wants to mine Alex for everything that he is worth; mere torture, experiments and later dissection wouldnt give her that, she needs him to 'open up' and cooperate willingly. She has to be working with certain assumptions in mind, a certain assumption must be the fact that both the Barsam and the Historians would learn of the humans in general. If not by someone 'talking' then by High tech Historian shenanigans. Revealing the human 'first' and giving him a sense of diplomatic protection by recognizing him as an ambassador is brilliant in both pre-empting the damage from a leak about the mistreatment of Alex by the Loroi and by showing everyone that the Humans were an enemy from the start no matter how respectful we were.
Is an other assumption that he is psychologically identical to their males? Perhaps, that's a hard cultural bias to ignore even when you don't have the biological drive behind it.
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
hi hi
Big page with lots of nice details here.
Shoegirl, she keeps her eyes on task like a true professional. Even in dark times, you know you can count on her to get things done.
Reed seemed rather neutral toward Alex earlier, and maybe it's just that it's not a close-up, but she looks like she has a little bit of a smirk in her expression. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some telepathic in-joke going around while everyone was waiting for access to the cargo bay. It does seem that Alex kept the sleep station supply squad held up while he was poking around, and idle soldiers might just pass the time by telling jokes. Maybe at Alex's expense, or perhaps at the way Beryl is being reprimanded by Tempo.
Also, I can see I'm not the only one who is noticing that Spiral's body language has gone from whisper to shouting. Although, if an alien lady were looking at me like I was a piece of meat, I'd make sure to ask them what their diet consists of.
Big page with lots of nice details here.

Shoegirl, she keeps her eyes on task like a true professional. Even in dark times, you know you can count on her to get things done.
Reed seemed rather neutral toward Alex earlier, and maybe it's just that it's not a close-up, but she looks like she has a little bit of a smirk in her expression. I wouldn't be surprised if there were some telepathic in-joke going around while everyone was waiting for access to the cargo bay. It does seem that Alex kept the sleep station supply squad held up while he was poking around, and idle soldiers might just pass the time by telling jokes. Maybe at Alex's expense, or perhaps at the way Beryl is being reprimanded by Tempo.
Also, I can see I'm not the only one who is noticing that Spiral's body language has gone from whisper to shouting. Although, if an alien lady were looking at me like I was a piece of meat, I'd make sure to ask them what their diet consists of.

While I'm not willing to run with this as an operating theory, it could also be that revealing him to the Historians was an attempt to try to squeeze information out of them. If they make motions to try to cover something up, there's a chance she could catch them in the act.The pre-emptive measure of revealing the 'Human envoy' to the Historians and the Barsam was brilliant in its own way, she wants to mine Alex for everything that he is worth; mere torture, experiments and later dissection wouldnt give her that, she needs him to 'open up' and cooperate willingly.
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Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
How much sleep do Loroi need? They will know from observing Alex in the brig that humans sleep a lot (the normal 8 hours + hours spent sleeping when bored).
Are the toilet facilities near/included in the heated portion of the ship? Nobody wants to sit on a cold seat. I'm assuming the seat is welded down or part of the fixture so Alex will have to "adapt".
Are the toilet facilities near/included in the heated portion of the ship? Nobody wants to sit on a cold seat. I'm assuming the seat is welded down or part of the fixture so Alex will have to "adapt".
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Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
I'm guessing Beryl wasn't supposed to leave Alex alone, and the fact that she not only made that choice on her own initiative and he then went ahead and activated one of his people's datapads, I'm guessing Tempo has some words for her. That might be why Beryl reacted rather negatively to Alex' use of the datapad. (Ie, it was a small betrayal of trust that put her in a bad position with Tempo.)
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
But Beryl explicitly allowed him to use those devices. So no broken trust here. Tempo may disagree with Beryls choice however.
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Sausage with a side of eggs.icekatze wrote: Also, I can see I'm not the only one who is noticing that Spiral's body language has gone from whisper to shouting. Although, if an alien lady were looking at me like I was a piece of meat, I'd make sure to ask them what their diet consists of.![]()
...what?
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
She's clearly telling her she's the big cheese around, and has primae noctis privileges.novius wrote:Judging from Tempo's expression, I'd wager it is something starting with "Do I need to remind you...", or something like that. She looks definitely displeased over something, and since she's directly addressing Beryl, it must've been something Beryl told her, or (in Tempo's mindset) failed to do.entity2636 wrote:Hmm.. and again we have Tempo doing her "I/ME" underlining gesture. In all seriousness, I do wonder what they are talking about, what is it that she believes she should be doing instead of Beryl... No, I'm not thinking about *that*
And yes, when it comes to that, Tempo might even be less inclined to believe that human men don't have the same biological pressures than their Loroi counterparts - we do know that Beryl already had a hard time imagining it and was awfully quick (by human standards) to offer for 'arrangements'. Tempo may try to test out her belief with simply adding more Loroi into the mix - after all, in the case Tempo is right with her assumption (and we know she isn't, so she'd be in for some disappointment), that thing would give her a firm hold over Alex.

Besides that, are there questions Beryl has yet to ask Jardin regarding human culture in this far future setting? With "everyone" now around we can get an audience reaction from the Loroi regarding human culture.
It just occurred to me, that they already have human corpses for study, and they most likely would be on the shuttle for further study at a more safe location. Imagine Jardin's curiosity finding one of his crewmates in a coffin.dragoongfa wrote:I think that Tempo has been firmly in the Umiak trick/construct/ally team from the very beginning and she is playing the long con in securing information and evidence for the admiralty to come to the right conclusion. The pre-emptive measure of revealing the 'Human envoy' to the Historians and the Barsam was brilliant in its own way, she wants to mine Alex for everything that he is worth; mere torture, experiments and later dissection
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Worse yet, one still alive.
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Well, she was strapped into a chair prior to this.icekatze wrote:Also, I can see I'm not the only one who is noticing that Spiral's body language has gone from whisper to shouting.

Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Gotta make up for that lead the others have on her.Arioch wrote:Well, she was strapped into a chair prior to this.icekatze wrote:Also, I can see I'm not the only one who is noticing that Spiral's body language has gone from whisper to shouting.


Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Interesting how, in the first panel, everyone minus Cloud is looking at Alex. Would not be surprised if they were all talking about him before entering.
I wonder if the third trooper (Flint, I think?) will ever get introduced. A new challenger appears!
I wonder if the third trooper (Flint, I think?) will ever get introduced. A new challenger appears!
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Not everyone. Tempo really tries to stay out of Alex's sight when she was sending to Beryl. Even more reason to think that she has a nefarious 'master plan'.orion1836 wrote:Interesting how, in the first panel, everyone minus Cloud is looking at Alex. Would not be surprised if they were all talking about him before entering.
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Who knew that missing shading could make a character look so shady?
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
I wonder if Tempo *does* have nefarious plans for Alex, and that is what the Historian AI was on about. Maybe we're about to see Tempo attempt to harm or kill Alex and Fireblade stepping in for reasons that will unfold later - perhaps related to her PTSD and whatever connection she has made to Alex. In the end perhaps Beryl, Fireblade, and sundry Loroi will all be "outsiders" whisked away by the Barsam.... Ok, it's not any more far fetched explanation than an impending sex party...
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- DevilDalek
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Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Spiral.. Er.. Definately seems to be putting her best face forward!
And she's definately checking out if Alex is checking her out!
And she's definately checking out if Alex is checking her out!
Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
I'm just happy to see Shoe Girl again. I demand speaking lines for Shoe Girl! #ShoeGirlSpeaks
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Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
Is that actually how female Loroi try to entice males though?DevilDalek wrote:Spiral.. Er.. Definately seems to be putting her best face forward!
And she's definately checking out if Alex is checking her out!
- dragoongfa
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Re: Page 159: Bedroom Eyes
The primary societal expectation from a Loroi male is to impregnate a female, as such it is expected from them to be 'available' to the female that has earned the right to his time. It is also 'necessary' for them to copulate, how much that is down to actual biology or to them being so coddled, pampered and oversexed (by our standards) is up to debate; some sex fiends I know actually become really 'cranky' when they haven't done it for some time.
Now Loroi mating habits aside I think that Spiral and everyone aboard almost certainly wants to see the bright side of things in this desperate situation, they are stranded and with no hope of a timely escape; them being nice and happy to have the closest thing to an actual Loroi male along for the ride should be par of the course. Being nice to Alex and treating him like one of their males should be expected and since Loroi base mannerisms seem to be similar to human ones then we may actually be seeing how Loroi physically 'entices' one of their males.
Now Loroi mating habits aside I think that Spiral and everyone aboard almost certainly wants to see the bright side of things in this desperate situation, they are stranded and with no hope of a timely escape; them being nice and happy to have the closest thing to an actual Loroi male along for the ride should be par of the course. Being nice to Alex and treating him like one of their males should be expected and since Loroi base mannerisms seem to be similar to human ones then we may actually be seeing how Loroi physically 'entices' one of their males.