Saint James Infirmary 134: Conversation Stopper.

[Werdna]

She refers to herself as Miriam

My take on Miriam/Pearl is that she's a convert to Judaism (or perhaps has moved from being a more secular Jew to a more strictly observant one), and has therefore changed her name to Miriam.  To her mother, who probably named her Pearl, it is probably hard to internalize that change.  (I knew a guy whose name was Christopher, converted to Judaism, and during his conversion process asked that he be known only as Chris (i.e., no 'Christ' in his name any more).  Upon completing the conversion, he asked to be addressed as Avrum.)

Speculation: Her actually taking a program in Jewish Studies is reflective of the importance of her (new?) faith.

All that is in aid of saying re: issue 134 - this was really, really well done -- the worry in Raven's face when she's trying to ask Erin what the hell is happening, the anticipation, etc.  I can't wait to see what happens next.  (Of course, my saying that kind of thing is pretty much a twice-weekly (and sometimes thrice-) sentiment.  I should come up with new ways to say that.)

[jmundt29]

Confession time.  We seem to be having two conversations, one about the current episode and its place in the current tapestry of events and people and a macro conversation about The Watch, its effects and how those track.  I actually put part of my response to the macro conversation in the When We Last Left Our Heroes thread, because that seems to be a macro thread.

The snark is muted in 87, but it's there...if not in her attitude toward Pearl, at least in her attitude toward "office coffee."  I thought the more perplexing response to the watch was Laura's, since a lot of her conversations about relationships and dynamics are surprisingly literal...almost to the point of being subversive.  "I will await further instructions" talking about relationships with...didn't she call Amy and Jacqui "fellow harem slaves?"  Now, it could be that Laura is just a LOT more direct than others, part of her analytical nature as chemist and doctoral candidate, but there have been questions posed by other forum members querying whether or not her programming is different, or her response to programming is different.  Is her bluntness a form of resistance?

The worry is well portrayed, and the shock is interesting.  In fact, the shock is so interesting that, at first, I didn't notice that that kiss was more than just a kiss (rather like I skipped over Amy trying to play footsie with Adrian under the table on their "date").  That's a French kiss, what Hollywood has sometimes attempted to dub "church tongue" (tm The Wedding Singer) when trying to be both aggressive and cute about rom-com romance.

[GodWilling]

.

[GodWilling]

.

[Daphne]

And I like the play with the coffee mugs: in that same panel it looks like Erin is reaching for something... but she's just putting her mug down prior to putting Raven's down.

HUGE GIGANTIC HIGH-FIVE!

(Sorry, it's an inside joke between PK and me. Go about your business.)

[jmundt29]

Werdna's speculation seems most likely given what little we know about Pearl's father.  This could be an aftereffect of the (first) Q-Box disaster.

[GodWilling]

.

[jmundt29]

On the working hypothesis that it was Raven at Passion Source during "The Conversation," I took another look at Tuesday's art.  It leads me to this question:  What's that design on Raven's shirt?  Is it a red bird with some sort of speech bubble?

[Daphne]

Is it a red bird with some sort of speech bubble?

Why, yes, it is: https://amorphia-apparel.com/design/quoth/

[jmundt29]

It's a meta-shirt.  Okay!   Doesn't seem like it would be clothing sold at a place called Passion Source (unless they include a special "'80s section."

[GodWilling]

.