>>97486413Oh shit, people still post webcomics on /tg/? I thought it was just OotS these days.
>>97486413>oh no these creatures that were mm away from crushing my skull were just regular peoplelame
No one cares.
>>97486424Only these two, as far as I'm aware.
>>97486413Damn, how old is that one by now?
>>97486551>lameHard disagree, enemies that form civilizations make more interesting enemies than enemies that don't.For example Bioware made the invading armies in both Mass Effect and Dragon Age mindless cultureless zombie-mutants with no real society, and it was really boring, compared to for example the Empire from Star Wars 4-6 that represented some kind of civilization.
>OutsiderNow, that's a name I've not heard in a long time
>>97486413new headcanon:>tempo is actually secretly running around killing all the waifus in competition with her for pinke humie cock
>>97487076no whats lame is the immediate "oh no those poor bugs D:" reaction right after they nearly killed youso artificiallame
>>97487328Jardin comes from an Earth which has been at peace for decades if not centuries.
>>97486413>loose clay pots on a spaceshipHonestly, this is somehow the least believable thing I've seen so far.
>>97488047They have artificial gravity on all ships. If that goes out even for a moment, you have far more urgent issues than some clay shards.Besides, look at the size of those corridors. These ships are not fragile space shuttles where specks of dust can mess with electronics. They are more like contemporary ships that get beat up, have oil spills and are still send out to fill the cargo hold with mackerel.
>>97488117Why do they have beards? Why is Alexander bald? What is being referenced?
>>97488164newfag
>>97487328Yeah, I mean no shit people have cultures, doesn't make you not want to kill them. Still, this is his first actual experience with personal combat with this enemy and he knows nothing about this war someone else hasn't said.
>bug people """culture"""
We have to eat the bugs.
>>97486424That's our Outsider update for 2026.
>>97486551Agreed, it is lame to show a moment of vulnerability just to say that Fireblade is a regular people even though she was mm away from crushing his skull when they first met. She should be doing more on screen skullcrushing. She LOVES skullcrushing.
>Since best girl Spiral is confirmed dead (merry Christmas), let's speculate who's next on the hit list.>- Beryl's the Tutorial Wife and it's obvious she has to die at some point. Alex would not be narrating the story if she were alive.>- Talon has to join Spiral and the rest of the diral-seii holders soon.>- Flint is a nonentity, storywise.>However, my money's on Tempo. She:>>has 16 levels of Interrogation and 11 levels of Umiak language, skills that will be needed immediately>>took over an entire ship with her brain powers>>explained her entire motivation to trust and help Humaniti as a way to preserve the last vestiges of her own naive optimism>>kept Jardin alive and celibate for 200 pages and 20 years>>would be able to answer important questions and solve serious problems that are obviously foreshadowed for the immediate future.>>has 17 levels of Intelligence Analysis and would probably be able and willing to explain too much of the plot>>has a 10 point debt on her char sheet>She's toast. Also, the spoiler redactions on her sheet are mostly revealed. So we are running out of Tempo actions relevant to the plot to spoil.
>>97488819This is the core promotional pic of the comic. It is titled: fearsomefoursome14.jpg. We can take it for granted the 4 individuals won't be dying.
>>97488885That pic is the promotional image from 2003, when he was waffling on whether or not to follow the accursed path of the barely-illustrated web novella after chapter 2. It is at most a splash image relevant to the two decades it took to be captured. Over the course of the next 10 years it will take to reach the next plot point, he will be able to introduce a new index splash image and relegate this one to the Insider section, or use it as a designated "back cover" for any forthcoming print copy of "Volume I: Chapters 1-3" while preparing a new splash image featuring Tempo's dead body mounted atop a traditional elven funeral pyre.
>>97488750>She should be doing more on screen skullcrushing.I suggest staying alive for at least another two years
>>97489085I'm on the patreon but I haven't read the posted pages. RIP Reed and Spiral, I'm obscurely bummed about their deaths, maybe because I've been reading this comic for almost 25 years now
>>97488948You are right...we are in for something rather darker, something shocking...The Umiak will brutally murder all 3 Alex's alien waifus.Then they murder Alex also.They already know where Earth is from the other Bellarmine survivors, whom they also brutally murdered after extracting the info.Soon Umiak arrive on Earth. It turns out all insects on Earth are a hivemind, and Umiak feel bug solidarity with it, and help the Earth bug hivemind kill all humans on Earth and take over Earth.Next Umiak kill all Loroi and then they brutally murder the Historians and missionaries and lizardmen, all their organic material is turned into bug food.Then the Umiak arrive at the Well of Souls."There's a lot of souls in this well, Ktktktktktk," says Tktktk to Ktktktktktk."Yes, we should murder them all," answers Ktktktktktk.They do so.
>>97489097It’s crazy that so many of these women must have been in like “big… pink… guy…” fugue like all the gooners here for Amazons. Like they are absolutely taking the piss out of Jardin here just gawk at him, touch hands and hear him say nice things. RIP.
>>97489097Every single one of those dorks and femgooners gave her life for him, specifically.I wonder if he will sing the Mickey Mouse song for them.I wonder if he will regret singing the Mickey Mouse song for them afterwards.I wonder if their ghosts will come to him in his dreams and slap him for it.
>>97488819To me that I'm crazy or whatever, but didn't Arioch post images of a "sequel" story that he has cooking up in the back of his mind?
>>97489412In which it is revealed that Alex is telling Beryl's son stories about his mom.Which means that Beryl is not telling those stories.The normal reason Beryl would not be relaying those stories is that she is dead.However, we know that the real reason is that she is on deep assignment to Earth to learn firsthand everything there is to know about humaniti, forever, and has not had time to break away from this duty to tend to her son.The very last caption box in Outsider after this is revealed will be:>She's a god damned SEXUAL TYRANNOSAURUS, lad.
>>97489097I honestly love the character quirks and genuine curiosity that these characters have towards Alex
Star Fleet Tactical did a dive into Outsider almost a year ago:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1rV0q1P72YHe points out the difference between Outsider hyperspace and Albedo hyperspace repeatedly. The metaphor he keeps coming to is that in Outsider, gravity is a hyperspace well, but in Albedo it's a hill or a mountain.The Loroi boardgame centers around capturing a hill or mountain redoubt, which Arioch also says is considered an evolutionary metaphor for a gravity well, even though a gravity well would act much differently from a hill in both realspace and hyperspace. The insider hyperspace page also keeps mentioning the existence of negative hyperspace, but makes it clear that negative hyperspace is very much unknown to any of the extant empires.Odds that negative hyperspace is tied to telepathy, and that doing some sort of telepathic negative hyperspace thing turns the Well of Souls gravity anomaly into a capturable mountain?
>>97488819Waiting for the page where Talon is about to sacrifice herself but gets convinced to "choose life."
>>97486413WIP for comparison
>>97490651Since she is a pilot it will go something like thishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI3oa9tiqXU
>>97490695>shaking violentlysome sort of battle frenzy aftereffects?combat drugs withdrawal?
>>97492067It's all there in the character sheet really. Fireblade is a telekine prodigy but she has to go off the chain to fully channel her power. When she does, she gets the shakes afterwards.
>>97489829This is a pretty solid guess I think even if it doesn't end up being true. We know that Arioch rationalises the force used in telekinesis by saying it comes from 'somewhere else' as does any resultant blowback force that would kill/dislodge the user. So I think it makes sense there is an overlying hyperspace-like dimension which psychic abilities relate to. It's interesting to think about humans would look like in such a space.
>>97492067She just used mind bullets to kill a load of bugs, might just be exhaustion.
Ah I forgot how interesting the MoO-inspired universe here is. I always expected Arioch to flip something around about the Orion- and Anataran-equivalents in his setting. It's a shame we'll never really see the secrets of it. It seems likely the Historians destroyed the human ship, but are they AI remnants of the Soia? The Soia themselves? A Soia enemy or prescursor? Are they just the holograms of the mermaid people they are supposedly keeping safe (who must themselves be Soia-clones of an evolved mermaid race)?
>>97488175>>97487367bruh this isn't academic they killed his (very recent) pals toothis apologia desu senpaialso side note ive been following this shit since moo3 was a thing i dont need the historical lecture>>97488750this is a more fair complaint but its hard to construe getting one's head crushed as an abortive interrogation that would later be apologized foralso loroi are hot so of course its okay
>>97494314>apologized forshe did not seem apologetic fifteen minutes agoit is easy to lose track since fifteen minutes ago was five years agobut, five years ago was just fifteen minutes ago
If you look closely, you can see an unfortunate cultural misunderstanding taking shape between Alex and the Loroi.For some reason Alex is from a space navy where the marine major does not ordinarily physically beat their escortees to show them their place when walking to an appointment.It is fairly easy for the reader to miss this, since we are used to humans being normal. But it is subtly made apparent.This is a very important indicator of the decadence and softness of Earth navies at this point in the story.War readiness took a nosedive when the earthspace navy banned sodomy. Civilization is crumbling.
I reread. I forgot about Alex getting those dreams from Fireblade and seeing a psychic layout of the whole Umiak ship. So is the likelihood that humans probably aren't psychic "blanks", they're just natural psychics and the Soia uplifted that biology into a functioning full race of psychics in the Loroi?
>>97494840At least to me, I think humans and loroi are meant to be paired with one another on an individual level with regards to psychic abilities. Which is why we're seeing Fireblade as being such a bright, fiery point of reference whenever Alex is inadvertently blanketed with psychich powers. I think the intent is for specific, individual humans to be a form of biological "psychic conduits/amplifiers/dampeners" to specific, individual Loroi while being blank to others.
>>97494894I can definitely see that from a narrative angle, but it doesn't make such sense from the perspective of humans being the template species the Soia made an uplifted template species from. Unless you want to argue humans were the Soia.
>>97494910>but it doesn't make such sense from the perspective of humans being the template species the Soia made an uplifted template species from.Anon, don't put your theories/words in my mouth. When did I ever say that they were a template species? I said that it's possible that Arioch intends for Alex's and Fireblade's interactions to be hints towards the idea that humans are a form biological conduit for the loroi's psychic abilities. > Unless you want to argue humans were the Soia.The Soia are clearly something else. Remember that the region of space that humans are from is "beyond the Empty Quarter" and that Talon said that no one goes there as well as Beryl even stating that the Empty Quarter is basically unexplored space with barely any knowledge about it. If the Soia had anything to do with humanity's design/evolution than there would have been some form of archeological evidence to support your theory. But as far as we know, there has been no evidence to support that within the in-universe explanations. If anything, I think humans naturally evolved and just so happen to be what they are.
>>97495065>Anon, don't put your theories/words in my mouth. When did I ever say that they were a template species?You didn't, but this is pretty obvious from the situation with the Barsam and Nibiren and how their biochemical differences mirror the biochemical differences between Loroi and humans. We straight up have an example of the Loroi modelling a created species with their own Soia-custom biochemical model (shared between the Barsam and Loroi) from an evolved species they encountered. That's why the Barsam guy finds Alex so remarkable: it proves the Loroi aren't unique, and aren't the Soia heirs they claim to be.I also think humans evolved naturally. But the Soia definitely encountered them, because they built the Loroi on the human template.
>>97494500That gesture can unironically mean "Watch yourself." It doesn't really make sense for Fireblade to tell Alex that she will watch him. The plan was for her to go off on her own. How was she going to keep an eye on Alex?>>97494812Loroi are a warrior culture and expect members of the warrior castes to be tough. I don't think Beryl and Shoegirl (PBUH) would have given Fireblade these looks if Alex wasn't a male. Would have been rude to shove a Loroi warrior like that, but probably nothing serious.Fireblade has good reasons to demonstrate her telekinesis here. Alex needs to know that she can fuck him up, even if unarmed. She is also avoiding physical touch, which is in line with Loroi culture.She isn't a diplomat. Tempo might have caught Alex, if only to try out what she can sense of him in direct contact.The Loroi look like attractive women, but their culture is really strange to us. Alex, not an experienced diplomat, is escalating things, too.
>>97495281>That gesture can unironically mean "Watch yourself."I am pretty sure that in fine military tradition she was signaling her intent to stimulate her own genitals while thinking about him, which gesture pointed to her eyes by sheer coincidence.Alex reciprocated with the traditional gesture of genitular approval, which is why Fireblade grins at him before departing.Beryl is acceptative because her caste were made to be cuckqueans. But I imagine Talon will be jealous.
>>97494840I agree that in the Outsiderverse it seems like humans have some level of psychic ability that's a degree above other aliens who are only able to get messages if they are telepathically "shouted" at. The only thing I wonder about is how Alex was able to detect inanimate objects, because it isn't just that his mind was filling in the gaps in the way he visualized the psychic presence of the minds around him, ie. he had no way of knowing that the shuttle was carrying the bodies of the Bellarmine crew.
>>97497499>he only thing I wonder about is how Alex was able to detect inanimate objectsI think that's because of Fireblade and my earlier theory about how he's a sort of "psychic conduit" for her. He's unknowingly absorbing Fireblade's "vision" of the ship and its layout. Hopefully this gets explored further in the story whenever they reach the planet they are heading towards
>>97497499>>97497522I believe it is very important that Alex only ever gets psionic signals when he is in a state of deep relaxation or close to unconsciousness and that Fireblade is both very strong and incontinent with poor control of the stream of psionics she sends out.
>>97497522>>97498449It seems that Alex can sort of receive psychic signals, but is himmself not emitting any. Well, if psychics were radio.Maybe it is because Fireblade is stuck on volume 11.
>>97498449>>97498755Alex mentioned taking recreational drugs re: hyperspace sickness.Maybe Bellarmine had a stash of DMT he can use to meet the Machine Elves.
>>97486413Could have had a hot bug wife, instead went with the telepathic elves.
>>97497522>Hopefully this gets explored further in the story whenever they reach the planet they are heading towardsYeah 2052 should be lit.
>>97486413Kill ALL bugs.
>>97498449And Alex hasn't actually touched Fireblade yet.
OK but what actually happened to the Androsynth?
>>97489097>Every Loroi on this page is deadThe handshake of death
>>97497522>whenever they reach the planetThey will never be allowed to reach a planet.Every single time he has shown us a planet visual the art style changes to hand drawn backgrounds. The artistic purpose of the comic was described many times as a long experiment in drawn characters merged with 3d modeled backgrounds appropriate to the 3d modeling technology that was accessible when the comic started in 2001, and or when the story outlines were drafted in 1997-99. I have never seen an author statement indicating that new expansive story arcs were planned to refit the story to the capabilities of modern technology. That means Unreal Tournament levels, not Unreal 5 jungles. Industrial mechanical, interior spaces, at most oil refinery on blacktop.Planet time would be a pacing sandtrap anyways. It's bad enough that each chapter takes a decade. Who wants to spend a whole decade in the 'Alex learns to meditate and talk about his feelings' arc?>>97498449>when he is in a state of deep relaxation or close to unconsciousnessUnconsciousness seems extremely helpful but relaxation in any sense beyond muscles going slack seems unnecessary. His first vision of Fireblade was in an agitated and fearful delirium from which he woke up screaming. It was also an agitated night terror that saw him slip into her dream. Tension woke him up in a fit during the planetary nightmare, but that tension was there the whole time. His more recent visions of Fireblade were under combat circumstances, and in both of those his hostility towards her is stated. We have no evidence that he is particularly helped being at peace; when he saw Fireblade mentally in the shuttle he was not at peace, he was hostile to 'the harpy.' His cooperation is unnecessary, only his delirium. The correct experiment for human telepathy will be for Fireblade to grab him and begin drumming on his skull to simulate the delirious terror and resentment he has had in past telepathic experiences.
>>97486413>finally decide to read this after seeing threads for years>it feels like the story has barely gotten started at the point it's currently at despite it being so oldThere is no way in hell that this comic is ever going to be finished at it's current pace
>>97489386>Every single one of those dorks and femgooners gave her life for him, specifically.I like that the corvette captain they were supposed to rendezvous with decided "fuck this, I'm out" and retreated in face of the enemy. Shows that not all elves are impossibly brave when facing certain death.
>>97499351He touched Fireblade in Chapter 1.He hasn't touched Tempo.We can safely assume that Tempo will therefore be killed before she can answer this burning audience question so that it can be deferred until Chapter 7 when he is subjected to physical, psychic, and sexual probing by the 400 year old Empress and her court appointed torturers.
What if Alex had just said, "Yes, human males need to breed twice a day for reasons of health" when Beryl had asked? I thought he was supposed to be smart.
>>97499489He had already experienced physical touch with the Loroi at that point.It felt like an electric shock that turned up to a cattle prod when angered.It was not established that Alex was such a pervert as to enjoy electrocuting his penis.Most men would prefer masturbation over the electrification of their penis.It took him by surprise that he did not feel electric shock from shaking hands with Talon. He was bracing for a zap, and had a narration box explain this.
>>97488885never read this but love the Titan A.E. look
>>97499516There is also the fact that when she asked about his sexual needs her next immediate speech bubble asked if he had been sterilized. Even if she was not proposing performing a surgical solution it is the solution she led with, and the solution whose mechanism she explicitly stated. An alien girl says you seem like you might have sexual needs and asks you if humanity has learned to castrate needful males. You have no idea what she meant by this or whether males of her kind are castrated. How do you respond?
>>97499399>Unconsciousness seems extremely helpful but relaxation in any sense beyond muscles going slack seems unnecessary. His first vision of Fireblade was in an agitated and fearful delirium from which he woke up screaming.Nah, Alex also got visions when he made an effort to relax. Such as when Beryl was on his lap. All the times Alex has received some kind of psionic signal was when he was either actively trying to empty his mind, (semi-) unconscious or in a state of flight-or-fight. The lizard brain of humanity seems capable of receiving telepathy.>>97499441She didn't know that the ambassador is hot.
>>97499600I am skeptical of the efficacy of his effort to relax when Beryl was on his lap. Beryl herself pointed out the 'poor timing' of the moment. They were in a combat scenario where the pilot had just gotten out of her screaming match with Clearbrook, enemy incoming, and the person he was trying to open up to was nowhere near visible. Only the Loroi he was noticeably hostile towards even at that moment became apparent.Consent is clearly optional, and has yet to be proven anything short of counterproductive. The most rational choice for the Loroi to make is to strip him of his clothing, restrain him, and for Tempo to then remove her pants and to sit on his face until oxygen deprivation, terror, and skin contact-the magic 3 elements most frequently associated with telepathic incidents-do their work.
>>97499624Fuck off, gooner. You contribute nothing to the discussion. Nobody wants to hear how you twist everything into sex things.
My headcanon is that beneath the PTSD and berserker psychic powers, Fireblade is Sakaki-coded
>>97499600>>97499624I will also point out that when he was listening to the Loroi stories of their home planets, he was not actively trying to empty his mind. He was instead actively trying to fill his mind with active imaginative visualization, the same way everyone else does when they are focusing on a spoken story. This puts a brain into an active, occupied, not lizard brain mode.
>>97499729Hm, that is true. It seems that I need to undertake my once a decade reread of Outsider.
>>97499751He was acting a little wonky during that exchange. But his narration boxes also seemed to indicate he was lying to be polite about being tired, he was surprised that sleep took hold. What's in Nollir? We can expect that it is a natural product, but so is ayahuasca. If he shotgunned two bottles would he get to see the Hat Man? Since Arioch says there are humans who were alive in 2001 who are still alive in Alex's timeline, will he be recounting his time on the Joe Rogan Experience? Will Alex finally explain the mystery of McKenna's Self-Assembling Telepathic Machine Elves?
reading for the first time, enjoying it so far
>>97499897the space elves seem untrustworthy
>>97500002The Loroi look familiar, but are really strange and alien to us. When you reread it, pay close attention to their body language. Things that are nothing to us, like shaking hands or being on first name basis, are huge to Loroi.
>>97500053I love how unnatural and weird but also humanlike Tempo's bodylanguage looks. I think I figured out an explanation for it.Tempo's trained and used to communicating with other species, but one of the very few aspects of bodylanguage that might actually extend across species boundaries is the use of limbs as "barriers." The arms crossed gesture that exists in apes. By erecting and relaxing "barriers" she's able to suggest a flow of conversation, and incite mirroring so a defensive person gets the sense that she is also defensive, and when she lowers that suggestion of defensiveness they might mirror that as well. But it comes off as weird because it IS weird, for loroi, for barsam, for everyone.This looks humanlike to us because she looks human. But it would also look offputting and barsamlike to the barsam, and offputtingly umiaklike to the umiak, because they are also humanoids that fight with their hands.
>>97500117Is Tempos body language unnatural? I got the impression that she exagerates her gestures. Which may also be because she is a telepath used to convey a lot more emotion, having to make do with verbal speech.
>>97500353Tempo in telepathic conversation with Fireblade:https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider161.htmlpanel 2. Leaned over, no use of the arms. Hawklike stare.https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider200.htmlPanel 3. Leaned over, no use of a barrier, but indicating herself with her right hand - arms used to direct attention, very natural.With Stillstorm:https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider071.htmlNo gesticulation, and as of panel 5 arm slack at her side with her dominant left hand up, probably in anticipation of reaching a control.With the other aliens:page 52-53: dominant hand on her hip, other arm free.page 54: crosses her arms to indicate closing off from their argument, addressing Alex.Not unnatural so far.BUT:https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider060.htmlThis is a pose.https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider066.htmlThis is a pose.https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider070.htmlThis is a pose.All involve a combination of a barrier and self-indication, some involve eyes closed and attention therefore not on the pink alien's reaction.And if we accept that she poses for effect, and uses her hands as indicators, then:https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider170.htmlCrossed arms, barrier; but she makes a show of letting the barrier partly but not completely break, brings her hands together and up to indicate her face, remaining defensive but in a more self-soothing way, supporting the head with both hands with less direct defense up; then drops defenses entirely and is only maybe making a show of using her hand to provide support for herself. Her theatrical masterpiece.
>>97500446If we instead suppose that Tempo just talks with her hands and that pages 60-70 just involved some odd seeming moments on Arioch's end as artist, then the body language masterpiece becomes https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider176.htmlPartial barrier, but a very relaxed one; Tempo is used to receiving some pushback and or bullying regarding the subject of conversation, so she has some general defensiveness up, but she is absolutely not expecting nor raising defenses against the person she is talking to and looking at. Best fully natural Tempo bodylanguage, if her bodylanguage is natural.Still, I side with the "this is a formidiable woman acting like a peer" argument over "this is a vulnerable woman expressing herself."
>>97500446I think you are reading a lot into her gestures. Of course she controls her body language when adressing a foreign diplomat in her official function. Nobody is doubting that all Mizol have received training in communication. That's no different to human diplomats.But to say that she is pulling off masterworks of theatrics when she is talking in an informal setting is going too far. What would be the purpose of these draining body language tricks? To manipulate Alex into believing that she can be trusted?Tempo proves trustworthiness by her actions and words. Loroi have a strong, cultural aversion to lies and Tempo has not told Alex a single falsehood. Besides, in the shuttle she is trying to get comfortable on a hard metal box or floating around in low gravity. That influences body language too.I agree that Tempo uses her arms very often in conversation. Which, again, might just be what a telepath who has been trained to talk to non-telepaths does to make up for the limitations of speech.
>>97500538She even does it sometimes when sanzaing to other Loroi. Here the situation is impromptu as we are witnessing a crisis meeting in extraordinary circumstances. We don't know what the Loroi are talking about, but the four Loroi here are the highest ranking pilot, the highest ranking security officer, the person in charge of taking care of Alex and Tempo, a Lieutenant Colonel. They are very likely discussing who gets to be in charge from that moment. In other words, Tempo is speaking in an official function here and communicating accordingly.
>>97500538>Loroi have a strong, cultural aversion to lies and Tempo has not told Alex a single falsehood.The Loroi aversion to lies is orthogonal to falsehoods. The Loroi spoken language from their barely-verbal warriors involves a rich tapestry of falsehoods, as demonstrated by "this will be cozy," "the whole shell language is naught but clicky clacks," and Spiral saying "not so!" in response to it being said that she has bad command of Trade or when she said she is the better player at Crossfire. Spoken falsehoods don't raise moral outrage.What does raise moral outrage?Tempo, being "insincere."https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider068.htmlAnd Tempo has repeatedly been insincere."We mizol have many functions" comes to mind. "I take full responsibility for any indignities you suffered" and her shuttle talk about his solitude being for his own good seem likewise suspect.
>>97500586A hand as an indicator like that is something Beryl has done as well, but we know the difference between Tempo's consistent gesticulation and Beryl's.Let me know when she crosses her arms.
>>97500623Best example:Everything the Clearbrook captain says in >>97499441 is completely factually accurate. But none of it is sincere and that drives Talon into a flurry of spacist slurs.
>>97487076Problem is when you try to humanize them so hard it loops right back into being stupid. For example, why TF do creatures with exoskeletons have pnchos? Or clay pots on a ship?>>97488150I'm pretty sure that hitting things isn't a normal ocasion for modern ships. Also, what does transportiung makarel prove? We're discussing clay pots here.>>97488750Lol, wtf are you talking about, mm away bfrom crushing his skull?>>97488948This comic has billed these 4 as the MCs all this time. It's so obvious even blind ppl can see it. They're not going anywhere any time soon.
>>97500696The big canvas covered pots are drums. They demonstrated the use of work cadence earlier when unloading the dead bodies of all of Alex's friends. Their cadence also put Alex into a suggestible, hypnagogic state, in which he was made vulnerable to the loroi power of sugestion and thus chose to betray humanity by putting on the uniform of his captors and following them into battle. If only the Umiak space shanties had not accidentally hypnotized him, we could have had galactic peace and cute bug wives.No idea what's up with the smaller ones that have obvious ceramic lids though.
>>97500623Genuine question, have you been diagnosed with autism yet? There is a huge difference between friendly banter between friends and telling an outright lie. Even though both acts,can see you speak sometzing that is not literally true. I'm not joking with my question.>Tempo being incincereAgain, social context matters. But this one is more tricky as it requires awareness of Loroi culture that the reader does not yet have at that point in time. What gets Stillstorm angry is not that Tempo told a lie, instead it is that Tempo did not push Alex hard enough for information.Not being forthcoming with all possible but not required information is not being deceitful or insincere. We would never expect the level of honesty and openness from a human diplomat that you measure Tempo by.
>>97500673Explain how that captain is not being sincere here.
>>97492146You should be using the GCS, not that shit.
>>97500696>For example, why TF do creatures with exoskeletons have pnchos?Clothes are useful to protect the organism from the environment, damage, wear and tear and scratches. The Umiak are not so short lived that they don't have to worry about protecting their shells.>Or clay pots on a ship?Already answered.>I'm pretty sure that hitting things isn't a normal ocasion for modern ships.It is for warships that are expected to function under combat. The point is that the Loroi and Umiak are obviously so advanced that their spaceships are not the sterile, precious science environments NASA sends into space but workhorses that are expected to stand up to a fair share of abuse. Some clay shards are an absolute non issue. It would be like complaining that an aircraft carrier uses glasses in its cantina, because the glasses might break when the ship is hit by a torpedo.
>>97500696>They're not going anywhere any time soon.That just means that they'll start dying in chapter 4, fifty-sixty pages and ten years from now.>>97500781>There is a huge difference between friendly banter between friends and telling an outright lie.Yes, as mentioned a lie is different from a false statement. All that is relevant is that Loroi usage accepts false statements as easily as equivalent human banter does, so we cannot judge Tempo's truthfulness on a basis of false statements any more than we could a human.>We would never expect the level of honesty and openness from a human diplomat that you measure Tempo by.We would also never extend the trust to any human diplomat that you extend to Tempo, because we, like the Loroi, are aware of the difference between deception and falsehood. Most people do not think of the phrase "as honest as a human politician" as high praise.
>>97500792Because she is wording her abandonment of her orders in terms of an obligation to duty. Caesar would have her crucified.
>>97500538Aren't Mizol seen as distrustful by other Loroi precisely because they are explicitly trained to be good at lying and have the mental discipline for it? Apart from them basically being Soviet-style political officers. If there would be one character who would lie (or at least mislead) to Alex, it would 100% be Tempo. That being said, I get the sense that Tempo was being 100% candid when she was talking about her home planet, and that she isn't hostile to Alex at least.
>>97500053I have decided I would die for Beryl
>>97500873>If there would be one character who would lie (or at least mislead) to Alex, it would 100% be Tempo.Spiral and Talon both lied to him directly when bantering over who gets to play the next game of Crossfire. Talon that it was not a real game, and Spiral that she was the better player.If we are to assume a one for one lie, so that Tempo lies the most, then what equally insignificant lies did Tempo tell?
>>97500878Tempo feels disingenuous
>>97500858Ok, but can you actually point to a false statement Tempo has made?>because they banter Loroi are not averse to lieingThat is retarded.>We would also never extend the trust to any human diplomat that you extend to TempoI am not extending an outstanding amount of trust to Tempo.
>>97500926Either you have autism or are arguing something you know to be false. No matter which, you disappoint your parents.
>>97500949If a Soviet political officer cuts off a Soviet scientist who is about to describe the Soviet political officer's role in their Soviet science project in which you are currently participating, would you take it that the Soviet political officer was sparing you some science gobbledygook that is not relevant to your participation in the Soviet science project? Would you expect others to take it the same way? Would you really be offended at the idea of another person impugning Soviet political officer honor?
>>97500846>>Or clay pots on a ship?>Already answered.Akshually only answers the question of the canvas drums. The ceramic lidded pots and round unsealed oil-jar looking pots and sphere are a mystery. You do not percuss against lids, or against clay and stoneware, because they chip. Those lids look like they have grabby bits that are meant to be removed, but if they are meant to be containers then why are they next to drums in places that obstruct access to the drums? Did the Loroi decide they were tired of killing and decide to tidy up by arranging all varieties of ceramics, but for some reason do it without eliminating the corpses? Why wouldn't they sweep away the dead bugs? Are they now rations?
>>97500975That's a lotta words about the Soviets.I asked for a falsehood Tempo told. You can't name a single one.Instead, Tempo has been willing to stare down her commanding officer for Alex sake, even at risk of personally offending Stillstorm. That is how Alex got to witness the battle in chapter 1 and the destruction of the Bellarmine.Sure, Tempo realized that Alex witnessing the beam colour of Loroi weapons would help get Alex to trust the Loroi. But that's Tempo doing her job in a honourable way.
>>97501080Those are clay pots, alright. You can look up yourself what people might do with clay pots.
>>97501104
>>97501104>I asked for a falsehood Tempo told.Yes, by laying such a disingenuously specific and specifically irrelevant question you have constructed a worthy portrait of the common T*mpofag. We are all impressed but you should stop roleplaying for a bit.
>>97500975I'd expect everyone in the room including myself to know better than to question politruk's decision on how much we need to know.In fact I'd be worried about the scientist that there needed to be an interjection at all.
>>97501139Just admit that Tempo hasn't lied a single time, you dolt.It's funny that the Gurps character flaw "bad reputation" works on NPCs in real life.
>>97501165I accept your concession on the argument in question, which was always "why would Tempo have reason to employ significant theatricality in an informal setting," which question you yourself had raised in >>97500538. However I must implore you to stop miz*lposting so hard in future exchanges. Endless deflection is not amusing to anyone but the deflector.
>>97500353I always assumed Tempo's big gestures were part of her training as a diplomat, sort of like a classical roman public speaker being trained to use certain gestures to emphasize things. Telepathy conveys a lot more information about your emotional state than speaking, so it could be the Loroi's way of trying to convey emotion the way telepathy does to non-telepaths...either that or Loroi from Perrein are the equivalent of Italians and they just talk with their hands a lot. I guess it would fit with Tempo's sense of smug superiority regarding her homeworld's food culture.
>>97501275Tempo's pretty clearly from Louisiana. Not N'yorlens mind you. Bayou country, wrassles gators....Beryl's from New Mexico, God help her. She can be grateful enough to be from Los Alamos instead of Albuquerque.
>>97501258You are neither funny or smart.>>97501275Loroi in general are very expressive with their body language. I mean, look at this page. Nobody accuses Beryl of being deceptive, even though she squeezes Alex way harder for information and hides information from him. (Like a mother who doesn't tell her childabout something that would make it sad.) Yet nobody analyzes Beryls expressive hand placement and accuses her of leaning on a box in a manipulative way.
Free your inner beards
This was a faster read than I thought it would be sadly
>>97501624Be sure to check out the extras now.https://well-of-souls.com/temp/Outsider%20-%20Starship%20Combat%20Sim2.doc
>>97501624Oh, to be young and naive again. Outsider, a faster read than expected.Do you like Mad Max and Conan? Then you will enjoy Ten Earth Shattering Blows.
>>97500727Bro, yopu are seriously mentally cooked. Seek help>>97500846>Clothes are useful to protect the organism from the environment, damage, wear and tear and scratches. The Umiak are not so short lived that they don't have to worry about protecting their shells.Do you know what an exoskeleton is? It's permanent armor. WTF do you think you can protect with clothes when they are wearing armor 24/7?>Already answered.Where?>It is for warships that are expected to function under combat. The point is that the Loroi and Umiak are obviously so advanced that their spaceships are not the sterile, precious science environments NASA sends into space but workhorses that are expected to stand up to a fair share of abuse. Some clay shards are an absolute non issue. It would be like complaining that an aircraft carrier uses glasses in its cantina, because the glasses might break when the ship is hit by a torpedo.You completely missunderstood me. I'm saying that IRL m,odern warships are not expected to bump into things. I'm also not saying that clay pots are going to affect the ship, but they still will cause a hdrance in case a single torpedo hits the hull and causes them all to spill or break. Even if they aren't pots, just having civilian items strewn about in the corridors of any ship haphazzardly is crazy stupid. Guaranteed to cause your crew issues>>97500858Being faceitous doesn't make you sound funny or smart
>>97501777>just having civilian items strewn about in the corridors of any ship haphazzardly is crazy stupid. Guaranteed to cause your crew issuesThe only thing we know about his current location in the ship is that it is neither the magazine nor engineering nor the CiC, since they seem to think he'll be safe here even though they also seem to think there may be enemy holdouts.So, the headcanon theory that these pots are strewn about haphazardly is only as valid as the headcanon that this is near the child hatchery and the pots were put there as a last ditch effort by some crewmen in order to try to hide the live bodies of barely-hatched naive crew children who survived the decompression but could not contribute to a counteroffensive.
>>97501777>exoskeletonEven armor can scratch and stain. It makes sense to protect your fucking skin from the elements whether your skin is soft or hard.>clay potsWe have seen a couple clay utensils in one room. That could very well be a recreational space.You are really dumb.
>>97501954>protect your fucking skin from the elementsThe only umiak aboard these ships that will ever in their entire lives be exposed to the wind and rain are the full body cyborgs. Those are the only ones that could join a planetary occupation and survive for more than a few hours. >protect your skinOut of the abundant bodies on display on this ship, show me a dead non-borged bug that is wearing socks, gloves, pants, armbands, a simple utility belt, a work apron.
>>97501830Thank you.No shit there are personal items strewn about warships. People like small comforts. Expecting ships, that the crew spends months in, to be sterile and perfectly optimized is videogame thinking.
>>97501974Show me a poncho. All we have seen is a single blanket.>wind and weatherThat's why I said wear and tear and stains. Dummy.
>>97499357Wrong universe.
>>97501275>I always assumed Tempo's big gestures were part of her training as a diplomat, sort of like a classical roman public speaker being trained to use certain gestures to emphasize things.The Loroi were always expressive in their gesturing. Hell, Alex, the Barsam guy, and even the Historian are probably just as expressive as they are. Arioch just likes having his characters convey visible emotions
>>97486413I think these backgrounds are still AI but they look better than some of the other recent (heh) pagesarioch might have finally realized he needs to touch that shit up
>>97502848Honestly, if there is one use of AI I approve of it is making Arioch faster.Give the man a landline to an AWS datacenter full of 5090s and mak'em rip.
>>97501777>Even if they aren't pots, just having civilian items strewn about in the corridors of any ship haphazzardly is crazy stupid.Maybe they were being used/carried by a bug on his rest time and got interrupted with the ship disruption. The unusual objects on an advanced ship are normal and human in nature. Like having a porno mag or cigarettes aboard a starship when electronic equivalents exist, it's a choice from a sentient being.
>>97503343That's what I thought when he started using it but he's still averaging maybe 4 pages a year. Doesn't seem worth it.
>>97500878Based.
I wonder if they will find out what is blocking Loroi Farsensing on this Umiak ship. The timeline doesn't work out for it to be humans. I could see it being something bioengineered from their genocide and experimentation on the Seren population, and Fireblade flipping the fuck out when she sees.>>97502783MoO and Star Control actually fit pretty neatly together. You could do a fusion universe EZ.
>>97501830What we know is that they are on a fucking spaceship and someone piled up enough 'ccultural items' that you could fill a whole shed with them. I dare you to find any cruiser or ship in modern times where the crew are allowed to do that in any room.>>97501954>Even armor can scratch and stain. It makes sense to protect your fucking skin from the elements whether your skin is soft or hard.You are seriously being an idiot here. It is not skin, it is bulky armor. Which insulates on all sides. Wtf do you think having a blanket will do for bumps or scratches? Do you know why nobody puts a blanket on their car to protect against bumps or scratches? It's because it wouldn't do shit. As for the elements? Do you actually think those bugs are in danger of freezing unless the temperature systems fail completely, in which case a mere blanket will do about as much as a single tissue paper? If anything, in completely sealed off exoskeletons, overheating is a much more likely concern.>We have seen a couple clay utensils in one room. That could very well be a recreational space. You are really dumb.Who the hell would alow the crew on a ship expecting combat create open recreational spaces? Now you're just making idiotic arguments cuz u don't want to admit your argument is stupid.>>97503357It's wild to compare porno mags and ciggaretes, things you can carry with you on your person or in your bags, with drums and baskets that you could fill a whole shed with.
>>97503744The Umiak on this ship are not hidden from sensing. Whatever gives the Umiak this advantage either only works against farsensing or not at all on this ship.>>97503379Outsider started in October 2001 and sits at 231 pages. Arioch has averaged 0,75 pages per month over a 25 year run. That's a pretty decent average. Rich Burlew has an average of 4,8 pages per month and Ashley Cope an average somewhere between 8-12 pages per month. But both of these artists have made their comic their fulltime job. OotS is stick figures and Unsounded is the gold standard for webcomics. One page every five weeks is not bad. Ariochs issue is consistency. He puts out pages in bursts. If he had instead slow dripped one page every 5 weeks, but consistently, he would have built a much larger following.Arioch, you old neckbeard, it's not too late to start. Consistent updates get consistent discussion and engagement, which translates into fan works and even more discussion.
>>97503852>The Umiak on this ship are not hidden from sensing. Whatever gives the Umiak this advantage either only works against farsensing or not at all on this ship.Yes, that's why I said "blocking Loroi Farsensing"
>>97503835>armor insulates on all sides>blankets don't help against scratchesThe Umiak exoskeleton is a hardened shell, not combat grade armor. Even if it were, it has to last decades under all sorts of conditions. Why do cars get a coating if it does nothing in case of a crash? Seriously, stop embarrasing yourself.>Who the hell would alow the crew on a ship expecting combat create open recreational spaces?Where do you get the idea from that this is an improvised recreational space? You are incapable of accepting that fictional living beings do not operate like sterile video game characters. Of course these warships have spaces the crew can go to relax when off-duty.>clay pots, reeeeeeeLearn how the real world works so you stop suffering from game brain.
>>97503852Discussion and engagement? He's already made his choice, and he chose consistent sketch updates for his patreon. That's a fine and honorable choice, the people who are paying him money ought to take priority over freeloaders like me. It's not a normal business oriented choice since that will severely hamper growth. It also splits the audience into two halves, which are currently reading different stories and who cannot communicate, speculate, or argue freely with each other, which hampers retention by silencing the community. When he finally gets around to killing Beryl, the people who paid him money will be like 2 or 3 chapters ahead and will have had a dead Beryl for years upon years. That takes all the energy out of the dead Beryl discussion, moreso than irregularity. It already feels like half the wind got taken out of these threads when the patreon got so far ahead of the public. I think his sketches are at page 300 or thereabouts now. That's ten years in the 7.5pg/year future. I can't imagine trying to cultivate audience engagement and fanworks between audience members who are separated by ten years of updates. Even fanart. If Ashrain steals the show and people love her and want to make memes of Ashrain moments, those moments will be ten years into the publicly unavailable future. We got smugglow memes because Moonglow's aura leapt off the page for everyone, all at once. An immediate shared and spontaneous experience like that shapes a fandom. Imagine if half the initial smuglow energy was split off into a patreon update, and by the time smuglow hit the general public, the most invested part of the audience had already watched her die. Regularity isn't going to be able to bridge a community divided across that large of a span of story.But it's a choice that will let him finish the story for his core audience within a human timeframe while he fiddles with his background work processes. It's an objectively correct thing to do.
>>97505180Well, the real answer there is to have the discipline to not let your sketch updates outpace your live ones by 70 pages. As you said though Arioch is a hobbyist and the sketch pages are probably much easier and more rewarding to work on especially after he got AI complaints.
>>97505180Totally agree with you. I've been freeloading Outsider since Alex woke up in his cell. The first time. I've watched Cloud walk to the bridge for longer than Clouds entire lifetime was in-universe. Ariochs decision to feed his paypigs with WIPs immediately took the energy out of Outsider discussion.If Arioch wants to grow his audience, he needs to publish finished pages fast enough that the comic catches up to the patreon. At one page every 5 weeks that is doable, as long as he keeps consistently at it. Who knows, once he has a proven track record under his belt, the patreons might be okay with going back to paying per finished page instead of for WIPs. Point is, Outsider isn't actually that slow. It just feels like it because Arioch had years in which he posted no pages at all.
>>97505432I think a 70+ page gap is honestly too big to equalize them now. Honestly he has 900 patreons mostly at the $1/$5 dollar option I think, so having a captive WIP audience might be just fine for him as a side gig. I'm contemplating throwing him $5 just to read up to the current point. But then I would just like stop the patreon and come back in 5 years.
>>97505532The patreon is at page 287, or 56 pages ahead. That equals 5 years of updating at the speed Arioch has averaged over 25 years.Do his patreons pay for the finished pages, too? Because if they do, there is zero issue. Just go 3 full pages per 1 WIP until the comic has caught up again.
>>97505676It says $1000/page so I think they ONLY pay for the finished pages anon.
>>97505532Agreed. If a sketch WIP takes 1 week and a finished page takes an additional 4, that's not bridgable. It's unreasonable for him to stop producing future WIPs. That'd be choosing to do a disservice to the patrons who include most of the ride or die quarter century crowd.>>97505432When I think about the deep time involved in Outsider fandom I get dizzy. It's a war story that was (reputedly) outlined and plotted and had character art for Fireblade by 1999, before the dot com crash and before the blogosphere takeover of the conventional internet at a time when sites like the Well of Souls' Homeworld Shipyard and the fanpage for Outsider at the Atomic Rockets site were NORMAL. The ECS Bellarmine was destroyed by an unknown assailant 3 months after 9-11. Alex was interrogated and "psionically waterboarded" one month BEFORE the US invaded Iraq. Youtube began on page 38, Reddit was launched on page 40. Arioch took his first official yearslong break in 2006; when he returned, the global financial crisis was in full swing, the US president was black, and /tg/ had developed a board culture that included at least one of you fucks posting the new bridge page and spacewar discussion that got me into this accursed snare. The Arab Spring began in the middle of a four month gap between page 78 and the 79-80 splash. The Arab Spring officially ended in the middle of the six month gap between pages 101 and 102. I can no longer feel resentment at this monument in time. Almost every other comic that started at that time and attempted anything close to this ambition turned up dead, including print comics and quite a lot of space opera manga. But somehow, against all odds, this one kept going.
>>97505829>>97505696IIrc the WIPs were only ever meant as a stop-gap until Arioch gets a work schedule going. I don't think there would be any real issue with delivering the patreons full, finished pages instead of WIPs if Arioch can maintain an update schedule of less than one page per month.In the past the update schedule Arioch aimed for was one page per week. That lead to bursts of updates, followed by a long hiatus. If Arioch went at it with one page every month in mind, he can do it. I think his kids are older now, too.I agree that it is a monumental achievement that Outsider has lasted this long. Shows Ariochs passion and the enduring interest of the readers that he earned with the quality of the comic.
>>97505829This is such a great way to describe the timespan.
>>97494500ofc not saint fireblade who doesnt even talk btw shes impossibly boring compared to all the othersno i mean the rest of the loroi smoothed over the interrogation which i remind you was an interrogation rather than an attempted murder which is what the bugs were doing
>>97506043>attempted murderHome defense is not murder.Alex is an American, he understands Castle Law.
>>97506064Alex is a Californian
>>97505676>Do his patreons pay for the finished pages, too?Just the WIPs, but Arioch posts the finished pages alongside the WIPs. Arioch has also stated on the patreon that he plans on trying to get more of the finished pages out faster
>>97506388He's GAY?!
>>97506456Depends on what part of the cycle of white flight California is at in Alex time.
>>97506456iirc Ellen Kirkland's face tattoo and hair were designed after one of his irl male friends. So Alex had sex with someone who was a male in a past life.>souls don't exist in outsiderWe know that Alex had sex with Ellen because it is the most reasonable breach of discipline that would get both of them reassigned to unpleasant suit duty at once.>no listen souls really don't exist in outsiderThey probably did it in Capt. Hamilton's personal quarters or ready room, just because there would not be that many sufficiently spacious private rooms on a scout ship.>there aren't any souls or metempsychosis or anything there's just telepathyIt was almost certainly a disgusting matter, and their assignment to space janitorial duty almost certainly extended far beyond maintenance cycles.>stop goddammitEvery time Captain Hamilton sits in his ready room he probably shudders in recollection of having discovered his hands had touched some torn off body hair or even worse biomaterials.>FUCKING STOPThis will be the first memory that Fireblade is able to explore in any of Alex's dreams.
>>97506670Are you going to explain how the irl friends soul ended up in a webcomic?
found out about this comic through here and i read all of it today, damn it was a nice ride that i am glad i stepped on. thanks for exposing me to it.
>>97506759Glad you enjoyed it. Head on over to the Insider if you want more info on the setting.https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/insider.htmlMake yourself comfortable. You will be in these threads for a long time.
>>97506752Accursed are the imagemakers, anon. They will be the most severely punished on the day of judgment, for Allah wills that they shall be punished until they can breathe life into their creations. Beware their subtleties.Authentic art is a process of discovering in life and nature their essence, which is meta-physical. It is furthermore ontological, dealing with the fundamental nature of being. That essence is then given a physical form most appropriate for it. Almighty Allah created man in the best of molds, a combination of the body (matter) and soul. The latter, which is a heavenly substance called by Allah in the Qur'an as "My Spirit" (Sad, 72), has been breathed into the former so as to give life to and sustain it.Man is neither the body (jism) nor the soul (ruh) alone.https://www.darijawords.com/en/dictionary/jismhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C5%AB%E1%B8%A5The subtle mixture of the two constitutes a person, which is called nafs. However, in this dual configuration the body is to always be subservient to the soul. It is to be its instrument and carrier. All carriers, all vessels can be poured out, and such is the fate of mortality. So we know in principle that one's ruh can be extracted from one's jism. It is a crime against Allah to seek deeper knowledge on the mechanisms for the perversion of the ruh. By misappropriating ruh, the Alchemist has forethought greatly. Such terrible sorcery shall be punished mightily. It is only given to us to know that there has been much discussion of jism in Outsider threads. And where there is jism, ruh can inhabit. This is the terrible secret of the alchemist, and that which separates him from the commonplace shirk.https://www.islamicity.org/20587/islams-prohibition-of-drawing-images-and-erecting-statues/
>>97506670>We know that Alex had sex with Ellen because it is the most reasonable breach of discipline that would get both of them reassigned to unpleasant suit duty at once.Arioch flat out stated that Alex got wasted and is a very bad drunk
>>97507077Yes, it is fortunate that under such intoxication the worst thing he did was make a mess of Hamilton's unoccupied rooms with Ellen, landing them both in trouble but granting Fireblade secondhand intimate knowledge of the male experience.
I dunno how to process the knowledge that Loroi males are all 5’ tall hung twinks.
>>97507123The Loroi biology section doesnt seem to say that anywhere and given shes asking about mating after saying the similarities are amazing it seems to imply she doesnt JUST mean height here
>>97506884I didn't read any of that and know it's just unrelated nonsense. There is no purpose in engaging with a human white noise machine.>>97507077Alex is based on a Master of Orion 2 ship leader called Jarred the Explorer who does look like a poorly behaved drunk. His skills are Helmsman, Navigator and Diplomat.
>>97507341No, the Loroi males are canonically well endowed. They also have a lot more stamina than earth males,incomparably more experience and can feel through telepathy what gets the Loroi lady they are with really going. Compared to that human males wouldn't be good partners. Pur onlyadvantage is that we are easy and slightly warmer. Perks that will quickly lose their value. It's like getting rebased to a place with way worse food but free extrahelpings of it.
>>97507557cite sourses plz you sound like a spiritual furry or asomething gross
>>97488819she's nine?! zamn!
>>97501298i love how she's a little offended in the last panel.
>>97502783sex with this elerian scientist
>>97508053She's 54, friend. The age box is right on top, between her name and the copyright notice. It is very important to her character that she only spent half of her life at war instead of all of it.
>>97508299oh, i guess they are physically adult by age 9?i was confused on the "early maturation" advantage and joking about it.
>>97501298What I find really underappreciated about this scene is that it had strong establishing setup on page 167.When Talon accused Beryl of trying to "baby-nurse" Alex, look at her goddamn lips. You just know, for a fact, that the version of this conversation she's got going on in the background is MUCH more graphic. Between their minds she's probably accusing Beryl of actually starting up an embarassing lactation cycle and trying to get him to latch on.And then, just 8 pages later, he says THAT.This is the sort of shit that makes the yearly re-reads worthwhile.
>>97508806Well, canonically, Beryl IS a mother. And if I remember right, she gave birth to a boy so I assume that she thinks highly of herself because of that. Though I wonder if Loroi society celebrates mothers that give birth to boys since the gender disparity is so high
>>97507760Do you need a source for the telepathy or the obvious fact that they have more experience than human males?
>>97507760Arioch stated that if a Loroi woman and human male were to have sex, than the loroi woman wouldn't really enjoy it when compared with doing it with a loroi male due to the lack of telepathic link. Loroi males would most likely be far more skilled in sexual matters since that's literally their one and only cultrual and social "jobs". As far as endowment goes, I don't think dick size was ever touched upon. Though Arioch did say that Loroi men do find curvy women to be very attractive.
>>97509144It's actually insane he puts so much teasing on panel and is then like 'oh but it would be a sour dull experience and nobody would enjoy it'.
>>97505180>Discussion and engagement? He's already made his choice, and he chose consistent sketch updates for his patreonBarely consistent. He's deliberately drawing the story out to get more patreon bucks.
>>97509227I think someone optimizing for money would be doing it all extremely differently.
>>97509153The teasing will stop once Alex has disappointed one Loroi per social circle.
>>97509286he's optimizing for money with what he already has, which is a bunch of people on patreon that pay per page, but cap at only 1-2 pages per monthso he releases 1-2 pages every month, right at the end of the month just to get his bucks and spends the rest of his time procrastinating, working his shitty desk job or AIslopping backgrounds for the real pages
>>97509227>He's deliberately drawing the story out to get more patreon bucks.anon, he's not posting WIPs every month. He also deliberately set up Patreon in a way that every time he posts a page he gets money from the patreon. So he's not getting money from Patreon month after month. Only whenever he posts pages>>97509153>'oh but it would be a sour dull experience and nobody would enjoy it'.He didn't say that, just that Loroi women would find an experience with a human man as "lesser" than that of a loroi man. There's also the fact that the Loroi would view having sex with humans as akin to fucking an animal because of how racist and insular they are (though he did say that there would be Loroi who wouldn't want to try having sex with a human as a curiosity/novel experience). He's also said that Loroi would find human culture like movies and music as "novelties" because their culture is so linked with their telepathy.
>>97509353>There's also the fact that the Loroi would view having sex with humans as akin to fucking an animal because of how racist and insular they areBruh Beryl jumped on his lap,the pilots insisted on an after-hours handshaking session and he finished the night in a big cuddle pile. The text does not support the theory.
>>97503905>The Umiak exoskeleton is a hardened shell, not combat grade armorThat's even better, new layers are cosntantly growing and the outer layers are constantly peeling. You may have notcied that plenty of beings on Earth live with an exoskeleton their whole lives without needing clothes.>Even if it were, it has to last decades under all sorts of conditionsLolwut? THey don't expect these soldiewrs to operate on their own ffor decades, without reporting back to friendly teritory.> Why do cars get a coating if it does nothing in case of a crash? We're not talking about coating, we're taling about clothes. Oh and btw, any coating applied to military vehicles has to be in the service of achieving its tactical goals.>Seriously, stop embarrasing yourself.You're the one who keeps fighting for a loosign argument, even as I dismantle each and every one of your so-called "comebacks">Where do you get the idea from that this is an improvised recreational space?Literally one of the comments I was quoting.>Of course these warships have spaces the crew can go to relax when off-duty.No ship is going to allow the crewmembers to set up anything in the area which can't be taken away by one single person in an instant. The very picture you show is an example of that. The moment shit hits the fan, any such area needs to be empty of anything that could pose a distraction or impediment to crewmembers resolving the situation.>Learn how the real world works so you stop suffering from game brain.You do that, you definitely need it. I've already explained why anything that could make a huge mess the moment a torpedo hits the hull would be absolutely prohibited.
>>97509385>Bruh Beryl jumped on his lapShe's a xenophile, but that doesn't equate to her wanting to fuck Alex.
>>97509446>THey don't expect these soldiewrs to operate on their own ffor decades, without reporting back to friendly teritory.The Umiak kind of do though. Unless you are promoted out you are assigned to a ship for life. And ships are almost never decommissioned, they just use up outdated hardware for whatever practical end can be gained for it. You quite literally could be operating on your own for 30 years and then be intentionally killed in a suicide assault just to distract enemy firepower.
>>97509385That's where human and Loroi culture differs. The Loroi have a huge taboo about casual touch. They would never just casually hit somebodies shoulder or poke at somebody like humans do. But when they do touch they don't draw nearly as much of a distinction between types of touch as mankind. Two humans holding hands is pretty significant and implies a romantic and sexual connection. Two Loroi holding hands is just part of a normal friendship. Compare how easily Talon and Spiral break the touch barrier with each other and how Talon recoils from Beryls hands.The Loroi place more importance on the telepathic connection part of skin-contact than on the physical sensation. Without telepathy, sex with a human might feel physically pleasurable, but it just would be lacking what really makes it fun.As to why none of the Loroi aboard the shuttle seem xenophobic, that is because they all volunteered to watch Alex when he was still on Tempest. They were selected for not being xenophobes. Alex got plenty of dirty looks on the bridge.
>>97509446Just take the loss, dude. It's half a dozen clay pots in one room of a huge space ship.
Anons... I get this feeling like the bugs are the good guys.
>>97509540I don't think there are good guys. The Loroi seem better inasmuch as they allow you to exist as a full and internally free nation in their alliance, but it comes with having all your foreign policy and military independence under Loroi authority. The Umiak, it's that plus they just run your entire civilization as a factory to maximize resource extraction and there will be no real freedom of life. And in either case if you put up too much effort to resist you are genocided. This has turned into a war for existence for either side. If the Umiak suppress the Loroi, they will exterminate them as they did on Seren. Having done that, you cannot imagine the Loroi would now forgive and they will probably blast the Umiak planets to ruin if they win. If this is actually mirroring Master of Orion 2, then we likely have both factions being manipulated by the Antaran-equivalent to weaken them for the not-Antarans' eventual return. Which is where you'd cast some suspicion at the Historians.
>>97509578So the Loroi are treating their allies like America treats Europe and the Umiak are treating their allies like America (tries to) treat Venezuela.
>>97509642i guess if you want to amerify it and remove the fact few nations on earth have the political capital for undiguised genecide then yeah. I actually think all the other faction in the setting might be horrified to know Earth as a faction isn't even united.
>>97509642No. The Loroi are Elerians, who treat their allies like vassals because tehy are a telepathic feudal state with loads of hightech from the precursers that jumpstarted theri developmentAnd the Umiak are Klackons who treat their alies like they treat each other, as expendable cannon fodder because they biomechanically modded themselves to give zero fucks.Now I kinda want to mod Stellaris again. Fuck.
>>97510033So the Loroi are Americans after they have plundered Nazi scientists and the Umiak are Americans after they have been domesticated by the Jews. Got it.
>>97510066The Umiak are more like Soviets, and the Loroi are more not like Americans.
>>97486413Holy fuck we got new Historian content in 2019 and nobody even told me.
>>97509353>He's also said that Loroi would find human culture like movies and music as "novelties" because their culture is so linked with their telepathy.That makes no sense, Loroi certainly wouldn't assume that the telepathic features of Loroi culture are universals across all sapient cultures, when no other race inside or outside of Loroi union is telepathic.
>>97510314No, but they'd find pink non-telepaths that look just like Loroi interesting.
>>97510340So the Loroi are Americans that like French movies. Got it.
Introducing bimbo fetishism to the Loroi polity and telling them they don't have to sanzai, they can just stop thinking.
>>97510244I trust this thing completely, You just know this thing would shitpost relentlessly
>>97510314Anon, you aren't understanding what I'm saying. They're aware of other culture's mass media and may watch/listen to it if they want to, but as far as the Loroi are concerned, foreign mass media won't be as good as their own because of how ingrained Loroi telepathy is in their storytelling methods and musical performances. The Loroi, as a whole, prefer live performances over recorded audio/video because of how far their telepathic nature tends to push the experience.
>>97509578 >>97509642The Hierarchy is imperial Japan on steroids, polite on the individual level but xenophobic as a society, a culture which emphasizes sacrifice and conformity to a suicidal degree, and insecurity of being a relatively new power manifesting as an obsession with "defensive" preemptive attacks and creating buffer zones. Arioch has said that for anything to change with the Umiak, their entire government would need to be dismantled (which would basically be impossible given the Umiak love co-equal branches of government and decentralization). That being said, I don't think the Umiak are inherently a threat to every other species in the local bubble.
>>97509353>Loroi women would find an experience with a human man as "lesser" than that of a loroi mandid he elaborate on why? is it just the psychic aspect? are loroi men packing more heat than human men? less, and all loroi women have shallow vaginal canals? are loroi men generally just better at sex?
>>97512284Sanza
>>97509468I mean, if that's the case, they should be able to do all the repairs on board. "Self sufficiency" implies that they can. They obviously are getting resources from somewhere consistently and have mechanics on board if their ships can operate for decades.>>97509486they're all bundled up in a open area where ppl would need to pass through. Also, it's not even just tabout that, they are near guaranteed to be broken if a ship gets hit by a single toprpedo. Who would bring stuff on their ship in that condition?>Just take the loss, dude.So when you have no rebutals to my arguments you just gaslight yourself into thinking you've won? Well, you do you, I guess.
>>97512700Alright anon I fixed it for you. Happy now?
>>97512700>Also, it's not even just tabout that, they are near guaranteed to be broken if a ship gets hit by a single toprpedo. Who would bring stuff on their ship in that condition?Sailors aren't not bringing private items on board because they fear their things could get broken in a torpedo attack. Gaslighting, lmao.Have some more proof that you're wrong and I'm right.https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-100000/NH-100189.htmlThere are thousands of pictures of the things happening that you say would never happen.
>>97512700>I mean, if that's the case, they should be able to do all the repairs on board.The Umiak treat their people and ships as expendable. The crews mostly do their own repairs and overhauls. Umiak as a people are very engineering minded and the workcrews that built the ships in the yard often forms the ships crew. While they are obviously supplied with fuel, munitions and food from elsewhere, the Umiak do salvage and cannibalize what they can after battles. Like a lone shuttle without engine power for instance. So yeah, most of the time once you are assigned to a ship you are not going to get off it until either the war is over or your ship is so badly damaged it is salvaged by the others.
An attempt was made.
Can we please have a race that isn't just humans cosplaying?
>>97516730Wrong thread?
So uh, you got anything nice to read while waiting for more outsider?
>>97516922You can go to rice-boy.com. It's fantasy and not science-fiction, but very good nontheless. The artist managed 3.301 updates in 20 years. Arioch too could be on his fourth comic by now with that kind of weapons grade autism.
>>97516922Unsounded Book 1 finished and the sequel has started.
>>97514265Seems like panels 2 & 3 might have more meme potential when mirrored.
Wait, does alex have extra socks to change or has he been walking in the same socks for the entire comic.
>>97519689The corpses of his crewmates should still have socks on them. Alex can use those.
>>97519689>>97519875The underpants are a much bigger issue.Corpses soiling themselves is inevitable.But he's had bad reactions to Loroi food, he would probably have skin irritation at natural Loroi cloth fabric from the same plant starches, steroids, alkaloids, and residual oils.But synthetic fabrics tend to get a man sweaty. Really sweaty. And the Loroi particularly seem like they would formulate their synthetic fabrics for warmth instead of breathing.
>>97519941All the Loroi canonically smell like stale sweat. They are so rank that they fill the corridors of Tempest with their sweat. Tempest is fuckhuge and like any space ship has to constantly run its air filtration. The Loroi still keep it smelling like a gym locker.
>>97521639There is mammal that naturally produces a musk that is noted to smell like a combination of vanilla and wood smoke, or like vanilla and leather.This animal was historically hunted for its fur and for these musk glands specifically due to the strong vanilla aspect of its scent.The scent oil is called "castoreum."The animal is called a "beaver."Arioch has spent 25 years making the most elaborate "smells like beaver in here" pun in human history.I sincerely hope that he NEVER addresses this fact in any forum post, insider article, discord messaging, podcast, or social media post.25 years, committed to the bit.
>>97521965That is a tremendous joke.
>>97513005>https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-100000/NH-100189.htmlYou still haven't proven anything. Handheld instruments can be carried to a person's cabin immediately and stored safely. What we see set up in the comic meets none of the criteria, as I've repeatedly pointed out. Even the picture you linked doesn't prove otherwise, cuz it's still just an accordeon. Half a dozen comments, and you're still rehashing the same flawed argument that I've already deconstructed.>>97512823Yes. Because it's no longer hitting me over the head with the statement "Hey, didja know the Umiak have a culture? Didja? Didja?" Like, the author seriously felt the need to shove this down our throats even if he had to do it in a way that makes no sense.
>>97523872And these drums on page 231 can not be carried and stored safely? Lmao you are stupid.
:O
>>97526283Who even made that image
>>97526403Arioch
/co/
>>97527222https://desuarchive.org/tg/thread/14082713/#14083340/tg/ has always discussed Outsider.
>>97527222/co/ didn't wanna talk about boardgame autismnot even couched as waifu warssee for yourself: https://desuarchive.org/co/thread/152348114/
/co/-inspired games are a thingof varying depth and quality
Oh fuck it's back and I didn't notice.There may be as much as two dozen pages I haven't seen yet!
I like rage mode stabby Beryl.
>>97526403someone commissioned Arioch or he did it because he felt like it. I honestly don't remember
>>97526283>when the scientist takes over diplomatic duties
>>97518675Reversed order works better if Alex is imparting a dark revelation, but that requires a touch more face contouring shadow instead of the blank innocence of the original ordering.
>>97527222/tg/ isn't just for games but for fantasy and scifi in general.
>>97537261Beryl would be too jealous of Spiral and Reed to leave Alex to lounge between them, but very cute picture.
reasonably sure this thread's donesee you all in april or so
>>97538354lmao
>>97542980
>>97543156I still don't get exactly what makes a Loroi Teidar. Are they just the ones born with psychokinetic ability or is it a specific means of training? Is Fireblade typical? The spy lady has some limited psychokinetic ability as well, but she's not Teidar. And apparently Teidar has kind of a monopoly on ground and marine command positions so if it was voluntary training everyone would be signing up for it.
>>97543677I believe the hard line for a Teidar is the ability to kill an enemy at some arbitrary distance, which could be done with low power and high precision or high power regardless of precision. Mizol require other skills and aptitudes, someone with both a Teidar's power and those Mizol qualifying skills would be able to write their own ticket but Mizol are more valuable.>The spy lady has some limited psychokinetic ability as wellThe spy lady has a non-amplified Telepathy power of 15 and the ability to dampen electromagnetic sensors or disable EM-vulnerable devices per >>97488819 -- she is one of the only characters who might be able to remove Historian construct possession from a ship's computer, and if she were to receive an amplifier equivalent to Fireblade's then she would have a TP power of 30 which is basically godlike.Fireblade's Telepathy power is listed here >>97492146 as 17*, and the asterisk refers to her telepathic power being doubled by the amplifier; her native telepathy power is only 8-9, same as the average Loroi. Since she sleeps without her amplifier on, her telepathic dreams leaking into Alex's brain cannot be a matter of raw telepathic output, only poor control.
>>97544947I can imagine reasons Tempo's role in the military and society in general mean she would never be given such an amplifier. Cybernetic implants being noticeable, as with Fireblade's brain ports, make any out of uniform operations a total nonstarter for Mizol in general. Tempo is not doing clandestine ops anymore but she seems like she used to. When she refers to prewar Loroi as a history of "endless bloodshed," the impression she conveys is that of having hands-on experience in the matter of, let us say 'dispute resolution.' Most Mizol specialties in dispute resolution would be undermined by a visible amplifier or by visible cyborg ports where an amp goes. And once a Mizol is out of the wetwork circuit she is presumably most useful as an intelligence analyst and subject matter expert and communications specialist. You would want a Mizol to live a very long, very healthy life. Fireblade is currently demonstrating neureleptic side effects of extensive TK use, which are almost certainly worsened by use of amplifiers. Other amplifier users such as Farseers have been described as having their livespans cut nearly in half, and there's no telling what sort of toll is taken on other aspects of a Loroi's mental faculties. Even a very slight decrease in fluid intelligence or working memory would be debilitating for a ranking Mizol.The GURPS sheets give us a lot of argument-snipping info. Maybe too much, since Tempo's near-technopathic abilities explain handily why the hardtroop's cameras didn't raise alarm for monitoring systems - it's plausible that Fireblade tripped the trooper at the same time as Tempo scrambled video transmission, and she convinced the trooper to proceed on audio contact only. I'll need to see if there's an explanation forthcoming for that in-comic.Human brains are the only hard counter to Tempo. Fortunately:https://www.sciencealert.com/swiss-startup-connects-16-human-mini-brains-to-create-low-energy-biocomputer
>>97545191>Human brains are the only hard counter to TempoHaha good joke, you really do not need to worry about this.
Behold, slop for a dying thread
>>97553319My oh my what could be in here
>>97553319i got 6,1,2,2which is canonical
Rolled 3 (1d20)>>97553319Rock and roll
Rolled 3 (1d8)>>97553922>TempoBest one arguably.
Rolled 1 (1d3)>>97553928>EagerSo far so good...
>>97553932>Tempo>Eager>KilledMy luck ran out. I probably ate one of Tempo's exotic native dishes and perished. Thus ends my story. Tempo is sad all week, and marks her food more carefuly in the future.
>>97486413Buy a fucking ad instead of spamming and post this shit on /co/ you gigantic fucking cunt
>>97554020lurk moar
>>97553319>StillstormI always wondered why Alex didn't look like a "Warrior" to her, not wearing rigid bodyarmor with glowing bits? General xenophobia or rather xenoconcempt?
>>97554626its because he wasnt a woman + he has a flat ass
>>97553319FYI I reposted this in /cyoag/. >>97553957
>>97553938Maybe you could try and go for one of her daughters, granddaughters, great-granddaughters or great-great granddaughter
Rolled 9 (1d20)>>97553319
Rolled 7 (1d8)>>97557488cloud ;_;
Rolled 3 (1d3)>>97557581
>>97557488>>97557581>>97557595>Cloud's test subject turned husbandoProbably the greatest love story ever told
>>97557480No, the player dies, not the waifu.
>>97523894Definitely not right away, no. You're stupid for not understating something I've been repeating for several days.
NEW PAGE UP
>>97559154HOLY SHIT
>>97560530>>97559154What are you talking about? https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider232.html is 404
