[2676] "I love you, Jerrek!"

[bedinsis]

This is getting intimate

[laaaa]

Sept 14, 2022 7:01:02 GMT bedinsis said:

If only you knew the truth, Lana.

The question of whether Lana was into Jerrek or Annie has been resolved.
Now the question remains of whether Lana is Lana or Loup.
Although I guess Robot would have a similar conversation to the one he had with Jerrek if he didn't remember her.

[imaginaryfriend]

[speedwell]

If Lana is not actually Coyote, her ridiculous "display secondary sexual characteristics and get straight down to it" approach is borrowed straight from animal mating behaviour. "What boys like", my tush. Even I knew better when I was ten, from reading my mother's child development books, and I'm autistic (in that convenient Aspie way  but still). Even the importunate robot in the "what to do if a robot hits on you" page was astute enough to court the human, FFS.

If her behaviour isn't literally derived from the Forest, then she resembles a hypersexualised child, which is a tell for past sexual grooming and abuse. She had to get it from somewhere, but I sincerely doubt Tom meant to go there. Compulsively reading bodice-rippers would not explain this. And unless this scene is common among New People in general, there's a reason it's Lana and not the others.

[mochakimono]

Sept 14, 2022 7:19:38 GMT speedwell said:

reading bodice-rippers would not explain this.

Of course she couldn't have learned this from bodice-rippers. The desperate love confession is only meant to occur after the third act downfall where she has been kidnapped by bandits / is forced to sell the family business / is revealed in her escalating web of deception / is about to board the plane to go back home / has agreed to marry her jerk-y banker ex-fiance after all!

[basser]

I don't actually think this is the case but since we've not actually seen Jerrek's interactions with other robot people you could conceivably theorize that Lana's behavior is altered by him in some capacity - either her robo-brain can't quite figure out how to interact with him properly, or he's using his canine deity powers to, uh, nudge her into behaving in a way he's more comfortable with? I guess? Gross?

I've also been thinking it would be a fun little parallel if the robots had some kind of mesh wifi network like Westworld hosts, and if Loup can't access it, so he'd get to deal with everyone besides him being intrinsically aware of some extra layer of reality he's locked out of. Delicious irony.

[pyradonis]

Sept 14, 2022 7:19:38 GMT speedwell said:

If Lana is not actually Coyote, her ridiculous "display secondary sexual characteristics and get straight down to it" approach is borrowed straight from animal mating behaviour. "What boys like", my tush. Even I knew better when I was ten, from reading my mother's child development books, and I'm autistic (in that convenient Aspie way  but still). Even the importunate robot in the "what to do if a robot hits on you" page was astute enough to court the human, FFS.

If her behaviour isn't literally derived from the Forest, then she resembles a hypersexualised child, which is a tell for past sexual grooming and abuse. She had to get it from somewhere, but I sincerely doubt Tom meant to go there. Compulsively reading bodice-rippers would not explain this. And unless this scene is common among New People in general, there's a reason it's Lana and not the others.

Maybe what she actually read were synopses on Pornhub?

Jokes aside, being claustrophobic myself, I can't look at the last panel for long without feeling increasingly uncomfortable and triggered. I would personally understand if Jerrek just shoved her to the side and fled out of this coffin.

[bedinsis]

I don't think Lana is anything more than she appears. She claims to be a New Person made from a robot CPU, I believe her. That she is more flaunting/forward is just a difference in personality combined with her having grown up on romance novels.

[imaginaryfriend]

I still think it's possible that the school library had naught but vaguely-suggestive teen romance novels and basic-facts biology texts, and Lana may be completely innocent with regards to initiating sexual intimacies. She probably got "the talk" like other NP(C?)s but even so I doubt climbing on top of someone and confessing love was a recommended strategy.  Getting in Jerrek's face like this may be simply to drive home her words and the blush-response may be simple embarrassment. (shrug)

[frogspawned]

I quite like Jerrek too, honestly.

[speedwell]

Sept 14, 2022 8:43:06 GMT frogspawned said:

I quite like Jerrek too, honestly.

He looks exactly like my husband, Derek, at the age of nineteen, down to the long hair and chavvy tracksuit and sullen look, if Derek had green eyes. It's hilarious. I could swear Tom had met him, if my bloke wasn't twenty years or so older than Tom. 

[Georgie L]

She was a library bot, and she accidentally observed humans practicing courtship thinking they were unobserved whilst in the library and extrapolated that it's common behaviour.

Also yeah, she likely read all the library, including the cringy teen romance novels.

She said herself.

[davidm]

Sept 14, 2022 7:19:38 GMT speedwell said:

If Lana is not actually Coyote, her ridiculous "display secondary sexual characteristics and get straight down to it" approach is borrowed straight from animal mating behaviour. "What boys like", my tush. Even I knew better when I was ten, from reading my mother's child development books, and I'm autistic (in that convenient Aspie way  but still). Even the importunate robot in the "what to do if a robot hits on you" page was astute enough to court the human, FFS.

If her behaviour isn't literally derived from the Forest, then she resembles a hypersexualised child, which is a tell for past sexual grooming and abuse. She had to get it from somewhere, but I sincerely doubt Tom meant to go there. Compulsively reading bodice-rippers would not explain this. And unless this scene is common among New People in general, there's a reason it's Lana and not the others.

I've thought Lana may be coyote for long time, but I disagree she can't also simply be a New People... there could be a wide range of how New People act... Robot is very different than other Seraphs, shadow is very different than other shadow people. Not everyone is the same as you or me.

A long time ago, I remember a maybe 4 year old girl embarrassing a nearly 20 year old boy at a party. She was suggesting something about marrying him and said something about he couldn't make babies by himself in cute way and he turned red. Her parents seemed normal, I don't think they were doing anything horrible to her, just people including kids can do all sorts of different behavior. She probably at 20 was much more "normal", many years of upbringing with our social norms and people learn and adapt to them.

Lana is in some ways an extremely young kid, in other ways adult, libraries have very large sections of probably steamy romance novels, with pretty girl and bare chested man who on cover of books are much more "sexual" than anything Lana has done, easy to google images of romance novels to see. Romance novels tend to have another woman "romantic rival" for the man's affection that he often likes first, that would be similar to Jerrek and Annie, but the other person doesn't really love the man like the main character does. Lana could think she is in real life romance novel.

[blahzor]

Confirmation on which books Lana was reading while a bot. Romance romance romance

[Corvo]

Cue Whitney Houston soundtrack.

[stef1987]

Sept 14, 2022 7:03:41 GMT laaaa said:

The question of whether Lana was into Jerrek or Annie has been resolved.

Was that ever a question?

[speedwell]

Sept 14, 2022 10:07:36 GMT davidm said:

Sept 14, 2022 7:19:38 GMT speedwell said:

If Lana is not actually Coyote, her ridiculous "display secondary sexual characteristics and get straight down to it" approach is borrowed straight from animal mating behaviour. "What boys like", my tush. Even I knew better when I was ten, from reading my mother's child development books, and I'm autistic (in that convenient Aspie way  but still). Even the importunate robot in the "what to do if a robot hits on you" page was astute enough to court the human, FFS.

If her behaviour isn't literally derived from the Forest, then she resembles a hypersexualised child, which is a tell for past sexual grooming and abuse. She had to get it from somewhere, but I sincerely doubt Tom meant to go there. Compulsively reading bodice-rippers would not explain this. And unless this scene is common among New People in general, there's a reason it's Lana and not the others.

I've thought Lana may be coyote for long time, but I disagree she can't also simply be a New People... there could be a wide range of how New People act... Robot is very different than other Seraphs, shadow is very different than other shadow people. Not everyone is the same as you or me.

A long time ago, I remember a maybe 4 year old girl embarrassing a nearly 20 year old boy at a party. She was suggesting something about marrying him and said something about he couldn't make babies by himself in cute way and he turned red. Her parents seemed normal, I don't think they were doing anything horrible to her, just people including kids can do all sorts of different behavior. She probably at 20 was much more "normal", many years of upbringing with our social norms and people learn and adapt to them.

Lana is in some ways an extremely young kid, in other ways adult, libraries have very large sections of probably steamy romance novels, with pretty girl and bare chested man who on cover of books are much more "sexual" than anything Lana has done, easy to google images of romance novels to see. Romance novels tend to have another woman "romantic rival" for the man's affection that he often likes first, that would be similar to Jerrek and Annie, but the other person doesn't really love the man like the main character does. Lana could think she is in real life romance novel.

Most of us read a romantic novel or two, or twenty, in our formative years. It's still abnormal and concerning when we act like Lana.

I'm just going to mention, in general and not aimed at you specifically, that the chatter here would have a bit of a different colour if this were a young man acting this way to a young woman.

[yellowb]

Sept 14, 2022 8:07:21 GMT bedinsis said:

I don't think Lana is anything more than she appears. She claims to be a New Person made from a robot CPU, I believe her. That she is more flaunting/forward is just a difference in personality combined with her having grown up on romance novels.

Agreed.

She has to be a New Person, because Robot would have noticed if she wasn't. Just like he noticed that Jerrek is not a New Person.

Remember when she went to Robot, thinking she might be malfunctioning, because she got a weird feeling in her stomach when she saw Jerrek holding Annie's hand? Hardly Coyote vibes.

Unless, of course, "dead goose" etc. But then we again run into the problem that she is a New Person. If she wasn't, Robot would know about it.

[ctso74]

NP hormones? Man, Kat's good.

I'm just trying to figure out how to feel about this. Is this an old robot consciousness and an old divine entity? Is it an old deity and a young NP consciousness? Reverse of that? Or is it two young minds, with old memories, fumbling around with their new emotions?

Just because Loup has the memory of the "dead goose" story, doesn't mean he really understands it? He may be unprepared for what being Jerrek will do to him.

[Nnelg]

All I'm going to say is, it's going to be really hilarious if it turns out that my initial guess of her being boxbot is correct.

[Gemminie]

Lana does somehow know that Jerrek's going to the shore with Annie; she's not just guessing he's going out somewhere because he does that a lot. I'd even buy that she's guessing that he's going somewhere with Annie. But how does she know they're going to the shore? She must have been listening in at some point. Unless the New People have some way of tapping each other's brains – but why wouldn't Loup have already discovered that, with his god powers? Sure, this could perhaps fall into the category of "lots of power, not much experience," but we've seen no other evidence that the New People can communicate wirelessly. The simplest explanation is that she was eavesdropping.

Then Lana drops the bomb. Here's a confession worthy of the chapter title, all right. But what does Lana mean when she says she loves him? She probably has feelings of attraction toward him. All the New People are going through puberty at once, sort of, learning that their new bodies can make them attracted to people who aren't necessarily good for them, and that it's not always best to just automatically pursue those feelings. And, in a way, Loup/Jerrek is too – he's never experienced life as a human(oid) before, not firsthand.

How is this going to go? Is Loup going to freeze Lana in time? Is there going to be a long, uncomfortable conversation? Is Loup going to reveal himself to Lana, accidentally or deliberately? Is Jerrek going to run away? Is Lana going to confide in Robot and ask him for advice?

[bedinsis]

Sept 14, 2022 10:38:55 GMT stef1987 said:

Sept 14, 2022 7:03:41 GMT laaaa said:

The question of whether Lana was into Jerrek or Annie has been resolved.

Was that ever a question?

Only on the level of "Well, I guess that it is technically possible that it was Annie she was blushing at in page #2612.".

[bicarbonat]

It would be interesting if Lana was somehow Coyote, and Robot knew but decided to let it ride because, hey, nobody in that equation likes the Court.

But my tragedy-senses are a-tingling, and I'm thinking she's an essentially innocent party who might get crushed twice (for the mortal "sin" of a crush, no less): once by rejection/lukewarm reception, and again by whatever climactic action occurs at the shore. Unless she's got that dog in her, Lana is punching above her weight without a clue.

And it's really a coin flip as to whether Loup will be merciful. Hell, maybe it'll be like "Phantom of the Opera" and he'll turn at the last moment.

[itrogash]

Sept 14, 2022 8:04:27 GMT pyradonis said:

Maybe what she actually read were synopses on Pornhub?

Well, are they like porn though, or are they like the way relationships are for real though?"

[fia]

I dunno, guys, what is a sense of personal space to a former robot?

But also: I think maybe some of you don't know cringey teenage girls as well as you think you do. I knew girls like this when I was 12-13. They were American, not Mexican like me (Mexican girls are generally way more prudish), but they had all these new raging hormones, an underinformed sense of what constitutes romance and what constitutes sexuality (sometimes to the point of conflating them –– insofar as one can at that age, but don't underestimate teenagers' access to explicit concepts), and a surprising forwardness and self-confidence that many girls lack but some subset have in spades.
You know, they'd do things like pull down their shirts a bit so their breasts were visible, wear a little too much makeup, wear heels a little too soon, try to hike up their skirts a bit (or a lot); do a lot of getting physically near their crushes and making fools of themselves but trying hard to seem coy and cool. 
They're lovable types, really. They figure it out eventually, but not quickly enough that a scene like today's would never happen (especially in a boarding school context with not enough adult supervision).

The thing that made it less creeptastic is that generally these girls had infatuations or crushes on boys more or less their own age, so the awkwardness was well distributed in both directions. There's a lot of meaning-well but failing-epically.

[speedwell]

Sept 14, 2022 19:15:24 GMT fia said:

I dunno, guys, what is a sense of personal space to a former robot?

But also: I think maybe some of you don't know cringey teenage girls as well as you think you do. I knew girls like this when I was 12-13. They were American, not Mexican like me (Mexican girls are generally way more prudish), but they had all these new raging hormones, an underinformed sense of what constitutes romance and what constitutes sexuality (sometimes to the point of conflating them –– insofar as one can at that age, but don't underestimate teenagers' access to explicit concepts), and a surprising forwardness and self-confidence that many girls lack but some subset have in spades.
You know, they'd do things like pull down their shirts a bit so their breasts were visible, wear a little too much makeup, wear heels a little too soon, try to hike up their skirts a bit (or a lot); do a lot of getting physically near their crushes and making fools of themselves but trying hard to seem coy and cool. 
They're lovable types, really. They figure it out eventually, but not quickly enough that a scene like today's would never happen (especially in a boarding school context with not enough adult supervision).

The thing that made it less creeptastic is that generally these girls had infatuations or crushes on boys more or less their own age, so the awkwardness was well distributed in both directions. There's a lot of meaning-well but failing-epically

Okay, when I was the age you mention, I was in school in San Antonio (Texas, not Spain), and I can totally see your point. I wasn't like the other gringa girls that way (our thing was wearing bras on our all-but-concave chests and using quantities of candy-shop clear lip gloss, heh), but I was looked down on for it by a bunch of the popular girls who tried to give me a makeover to make me more like what you describe, haha. To this day I am willing to believe they meant well, instead of attacking me for being a public embarrassment (what it felt like at the time). But you're right about the crass, half-baked approach, and, sure, what do you expect from young things with no experience. 

To be honest, what I expect from even young things is not to literally jump on top of a guy who likes somebody else. But maybe I'm different 😉 Anyway, as far as personal space is concerned, someone went to very great trouble to give them personal cubicles with doors that shut, instead of hospital-ward-style beds in a row or even shared dorm rooms, and I take that as evidence of a general expectation of personal privacy to support their new sense of personal identity.

[yellowb]

Funny, I just noticed there's a typo in panel 4. "I's" should be "It's". In the comment section of today's page, nobody has mentioned it. Usually GK readers spot Tom's typos pretty fast. Faster than me, anyway...

[shaihulud]

Sept 14, 2022 22:08:00 GMT yellowb said:

Funny, I just noticed there's a typo in panel 4. "I's" should be "It's". In the comment section of today's page, nobody has mentioned it. Usually GK readers spot Tom's typos pretty fast. Faster than me, anyway...

I guess that sort of gives us insight into what the audience is thinking about instead of the dialogue.

[imaginaryfriend]

Sept 14, 2022 20:23:28 GMT speedwell said:

To be honest, what I expect from even young things is not to literally jump on top of a guy who likes somebody else.

Maybe the reason for the jumping is because the guy likes someone else that he's arguably seeing that very night. By literally jumping on Jerrek, Lana's semi-metaphorically getting the jump on the competition before anything can happen with Antimony at the semi-metaphorical Star Ocean thus metaphorically neutering the competition (hopefully).

[maxptc]

Sept 14, 2022 19:15:24 GMT fia said:

I dunno, guys, what is a sense of personal space to a former robot?

But also: I think maybe some of you don't know cringey teenage girls as well as you think you do. I knew girls like this when I was 12-13. They were American, not Mexican like me (Mexican girls are generally way more prudish), but they had all these new raging hormones, an underinformed sense of what constitutes romance and what constitutes sexuality (sometimes to the point of conflating them –– insofar as one can at that age, but don't underestimate teenagers' access to explicit concepts), and a surprising forwardness and self-confidence that many girls lack but some subset have in spades.
You know, they'd do things like pull down their shirts a bit so their breasts were visible, wear a little too much makeup, wear heels a little too soon, try to hike up their skirts a bit (or a lot); do a lot of getting physically near their crushes and making fools of themselves but trying hard to seem coy and cool. 
They're lovable types, really. They figure it out eventually, but not quickly enough that a scene like today's would never happen (especially in a boarding school context with not enough adult supervision).

The thing that made it less creeptastic is that generally these girls had infatuations or crushes on boys more or less their own age, so the awkwardness was well distributed in both directions. There's a lot of meaning-well but failing-epically.

Very much in agreement, and teenage romance is all about well intended but inappropriate experimental behavior, that could arguably be abusive if done by adults. Tom has explored this before, with Annnie and Jack as well as Annie's experiences in the forest. The creepy here is that Loup is posing as a lovable teenager, the rest is just teenage cringe.