Petrushka

Elizabeta Baranovskaya (エリザヴェート･バラノフスカヤ, Erizavuto Baranofusukaya^?) was once a Russian-born ballerina, who had practiced since she was four years old. She was a student at the Moscow State Academy and her hometown was in Smolensk, but her mother was a Belarusian. Elizabeta's dream was to dance at the Bolshoi Theater (it was also once her mother's dream), but after learning of a tumor, she went to Italy to see about curing it, where her leg was unfortunately amputated.

Because of this, she attempted suicide by jumping off the hospital roof and plummeting to the ground, but was unsuccessful; instead, she was retained at the hospital until the SWA stepped in. Alessandro Ricci, her handler, renamed her Petrushka (for the Russian puppet Petrushka, and like Rico, it is a boy's name), and she underwent the physical augmentation process. Unlike the previous first-stage cyborgs, most of Petrushka's features were replaced, so she is not a natural redhead nor are her eyes naturally green (the doctor working to replace her body decided to model her after his first love, as Alessandro refused to specify any particular changes except that she "not be a redhead"). Furthermore, she is 16 years old therefore having a body of a teenager, unlike the rest of the girls who are children. As Angelica was the first-stage prototype, Petrushka is the prototype for the second-stage generation and debuts in volume six, where she is also featured on the cover with her primary weapon.

As a second-stage cyborg, Petrushka already had everything she needed to know about her life at the SWA pre-programmed into her brain; she knew where she was, that she would be trained for combat, and that she "must follow Alessandro's and the Agency's orders without hesitation", but an error occurred, and as such she has no memories, fake or otherwise. Any order that she is given she is forced to see out despite her own wishes, and she is forbidden to speak ill of her handler. Her name is often shortened to the more feminine "Petra". Petrushka's preferred weapons are the Spectre M4 SMG and Taurus PT92 pistol.

credit:wikipedia

Passable. Some stuff on 'Sandro's lust for Petra could be added, though.

hopefully no one else will make the same mistake as me and see the Sandro x Petrushka thing as whole some at first.

Sandro is making the mistake of forcing Pertushka to be a couple with him on missions, and her being conditioned to where she would want to be. The feelings for her would are confusing enough without having him adding gasoline to her fire. To her it would seem that he is returning her 'love', though all the while playing that 'Mr. Tough MachoGuy' act. He is slowly letting his feelings to be chipped away as he tries to show her nothing and is failing though he may not know this.

I cant wait to see the crash and burn.

Me, too.

Oh, who am I kidding? I'd relish the crash and burn.

You mean like this:

Alot of the new members are coming in with Petra as their Fan Of: reply, wat's with that!!

Personally, I'm not really a fan of Pertushka.

Why? Because she's not as strong and fast as the other operatives and she seems like just eye candy to me.

Also, she takes up valuable time away from other more deserving characters such as Angelica
and ones who need more time devoted to them such as Beatrice.

Finally, the whole idea of taking someone and altering their appearance when their memories' already been wiped makes me uncomfortable for some reason.

All in all, the SWA is making a mistake with creating the generation 2 cyborgs. They should be focusing on upgrading the generation 1 cyborgs who have proven their worth to the agency.

the main stated reason for creating type 2 cyborgs is cost and maintenance and the fact that the tech is being field tested for civilian use plus double lifespans over the type 1's

heres Petra's old school when she was Elizabetta

http://www.balletacademy.ru/

its in Russian but has an english version so click !

Wow, it's older than my country is. Cool points for finding the link.

Clearly not much love for Petrushka. I suppose its because she's grown up and doesn't fit in with the rest of the gang.

It's not just that, really. She's quite a shallow character - little more than eye candy.

She is VERY shallow. Come on, she threw herself off a building because she couldn't dance? She couldn't find anything to hold on to in her life? She's pathetic and I don't feel sorry for her. She took up 3 whole books and she is forced on us. She's jut fan-service and was never meant to be in Gunslinger Girl.

"The girl has a mechanical body however she is still an adolescent... teenager?" I don't know what Yu was thinking.

Nachtsider wrote:It's not just that, really. She's quite a shallow character - little more than eye candy.

Agreed. As I said before, she’s basically a generic cross between Henrietta and Triela (and of course, she only takes their good points). She’s about as interesting as drying paint.

Not to mention her pathetic back story.

And I wont even get started on her special relationship with Sandro.

The Russian blood in me admittedly strikes somewhat of a soft spot for her, but I do agree that her presence really does seem to be for the fan-service aspects. Being older, she can be more "fully figured" - consider her pose on the US 6th volume cover compared to the covers with the other girls. Or the inside picture of her on the Japanese Vol. 7.

And I agree that her back story just isn't in the same league of the tragedy that is the original girls. It is not that I like tragedy, but I find it makes the girl's lives with the Agency to be that much more compelling and strengthens the stories told.

I also don't like the fact that she and Sandro's "special" relationship as Danjo3 put it was pretty much defined right at the start, leaving us little to look forward to in terms of development (other then when they decide to sleep with each other, likely). Henrietta's relationship with Giuseppe was already beyond the pure "fratello" relationship created by the conditioning when we were first introduced to both characters, but it still evolved over the manga and the series. And I was floored by watching Triela transcend her conditioning in Volume 10 (especially Chapter 56) as it applied to her relationship with Hilshire.

Oh, good! Someone who understands!
Petrushka would be a fine character in your average manga/anime, I'd say she's even a little teensey bit deeper than your average tragic character.
In Gunslinger Girl, though... she's laughably shallow. She's there to serve a single, obvious purpose (though I still hold out hope that Yu's gonna make her serve as an example of what can go horribly wrong, in which case she'd serve dual purpose)
...you really can't say the same about any of the Gen1 girls. They've all got believable human tragedy to 'em. You can't help but pity them, while you know none of them would want your pity.

Triela wrote:She is VERY shallow. Come on, she threw herself off a building because she couldn't dance? She couldn't find anything to hold on to in her life? She's pathetic and I don't feel sorry for her. She took up 3 whole books and she is forced on us. She's jut fan-service and was never meant to be in Gunslinger Girl.

"The girl has a mechanical body however she is still an adolescent... teenager?" I don't know what Yu was thinking.

I dont know what Yu was thinking, but in Elizabetta's defense, I have to say...

I have met many people in my life who were so focused and dedicated to one thing in their lives that in eliminating that one thing becomes the end of that person's life. Elizabetta was a ballerina since gae 4. She knows nothing else but that lifestyle (which can become sorrid at times, knowing so many dancers as I do). Competition within that lifestyle is fierce and only a very tiny few become what she was at her stage in her life. Even fewer go beyond what she was striving for.

Elizabetta pathetic? The the views of many, it seems that way. But you have to consider that this was how she was brought up and knows nothing if very little of the outside world and its politics. She was a cyborg in mind and training long before she became Petrushka in this resepct. And as a cyborg, she would do anything for what she was programmed to do including self-destruct when she thought she could not do it no more.

It is somewhat interesting that -Il Teatrino- chose to ignore Petrushka (at least through episode 13 - I have not seen the two OVAs) even though it came out well after her character was introduced in the manga.

You make some good points about Petrushka's upbringing, ElfenMagix, and how it likely influenced her decision to attempt to take her own life and how she reacts to the conditioning, but her character just seems to...out of place...compared to the Generation 1 girls.

Of course, Yu was the one who made those decisions to portray her that way. Perhaps because she is older then the Generation 1 girls Yu can portray that character in ways he couldn't (or wouldn't) with the Gen1 girls, though even there, he seems to be starting to move the Gen1 girls to a more mature and older role.

I think the operation in Piedmont from Chapter 34 is a clear example. The changes Petrushka made to Claes in her clothing, hair style and look... Claes is certainly the most mature of the Gen1 girls, but Petrushka remakes her into someone who looks more like 17-18 instead of 12-13. And I fully admit that was the point of the changes - so they could pass themselves as high school girls. And I must also admit that Claes looked great and if this is how she'd been introduced to us... But she wasn't. She was introduced as a quiet and intelligent girl who was quite mature for her age. Who dresses conservatively and doesn't "stand out" in a crowd. While she looked good, she also looked...wrong...

Even Triela is starting to look more mature. Not to the level Claes did in Chapter 34, but her style of dress is very different. Again, she looks great, but it's a major change to how she used to dress (even if the change started in Chapter 50). Of course, she actually did mature a great bit in Chapters 53-56 (56, especially) as she came to understand what sacrifices Hilshire has made for her and how that allowed her to transcend her conditioning in Chapter 56 first by deciding to leave him to protect him and then realizing that her love for him was not because of the conditioning, but was a real emotion she had independently come to realize and has decided to act upon.

Kiskaloo wrote:Claes is certainly the most mature of the Gen1 girls...

I have to disagree. Claes is definitely a mature girl, but just how mature is the real question. She, unlike Triela, is very rarely put into situations that test her maturity. Her overall personality is really all we have to go on, and that’s not saying much – she tends to be somewhat self centered (anti-social) and doesn’t like to be bothered with other peoples problems. In vol.5, Claes couldn’t understand how it was that Triela took care of herself and all the other girls at the same time. In other words, what comes naturally to Triela is a major pain in the ass for Claes. OK, so she’s smart, but intelligence does not a mature girl make.

BTW, I’m not Claes bashing here – she happens to run a close second to Triela on my list of favorite girls.

Kiskaloo wrote:It is somewhat interesting that -Il Teatrino- chose to ignore Petrushka (at least through episode 13 - I have not seen the two OVAs) even though it came out well after her character was introduced in the manga.

in the same episode Patrisha and d pandania guy look for the SWA, they bump into a girl with short blond hair, can't speak italian, and limps away from them later on. that's Petra.

as for her lifestyle. we have mountain climbers who continue to live on now that they have no legs, piano players that blew their fingers but continue to persevier and all the other people who continue to stand on their own even with Aids or cancer. Petra just dosn't hold a candle up to the other girls. come to think of it how about the other bitches...

Bianchi- *looking at girl lying on surgery table* so why did she put a shot gun in her mouth after taking a whole bottle of sleeping pills?
Lorenzo- her boyfriend broke up with her...

West Nile wrote:we have mountain climbers who continue to live on now that they have no legs, piano players that blew their fingers but continue to persevier and all the other people who continue to stand on their own even with Aids or cancer.

Good point West. You hear inspirational stories like that all the time. The way I see it, Petra had two choices after she lost her leg. She could work through it, making the best of a bad situation, and get on with her life, or throw herself off a building. I don’t mean to sound heartless, but it seems she took the easy way out.

homigosh look wat i just found in the tropes wiki

example of a "the Wesley'

Petra from Gunslinger Girl,
who is an older version of the original cyborg-girls, "defines" this
trope; the creator has openly admitted that she's his favorite, despite
being a new addition and taking the storyline in an entirely new
direction, as well as yoinking it away (at points) from the former
focus character, Henrietta. Despite the creator's fanboying over Petra,
the fandom at large hates her passionately.

• It also doesn't help that even more Petra-like
  characters are being introduced in the manga, fundamentally diverting
  the attention from the much younger first girls, since the plot's
  poignancy stems largely from the fact the girls' age didn't match their
  occupation as assassins. It gets even worse when Petra actually appears to start a sexual relationship with her handler, which breaks the "fratello"-dynamics on a basic level.
  

homigosh we have been heard!!

It also makes mention of the manga's original concept. :lol!:

Bleached Underpants: The series' original incarnation was a Lolicon doujinshi series with some graphic sexual material.

Danjo3 wrote:I don’t mean to sound heartless, but it seems she took the easy way out.

Death is always the easy way out.

It's always harder to live, because you'll always need to deal with something. However in death, there is nothing and no-one to deal with (we think). It's easy.

This is the first time I’ve seen this site West, and I love it! Could spend all day on it. Reminds me a bit of Jump The Shark.

They gave some good advice on dealing with Petra’s character:

When a character starts turning into The Wesley, the show usually begins hemorrhaging fans - it's a clear sign that it's about to (or just did) Jump The Shark. The only certain way to dodge this particular bullet is to write the character out, either by having them Put On A Bus or outright killing them (the latter choice has been known to actually win back some of the fans).

I also liked this one:

Does This Remind You Of Anything: While meticulously polishing her assault rifle to the extent of almost caressing it, Elsa goes on to elaborate and describe her obsession for her handler.

Kick The Dog: most of Jean's interactions with Rico qualify, but Lauro's every thought and action toward Elsa take this to a whole new level.
:lol!:
...I never knew GSG had such a hugely exhaustive list on tropes...

Danjo3 wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:Claes is certainly the most mature of the Gen1 girls...

I have to disagree. Claes is definitely a mature girl, but just how mature is the real question.

Very good points. Triela has certainly shown her maturity in the later chapters of the manga. I don't mean to keep going on and on about Volume 10, but man, her arc really really impressed me.

TTIO wrote:

Danjo3 wrote:I don’t mean to sound heartless, but it seems she took the easy way out.

Death is always the easy way out.

It's always harder to live, because you'll always need to deal with something. However in death, there is nothing and no-one to deal with (we think). It's easy.

Which is why I was so impressed with how Triela dealt with her crises compared to Elsa.

Not that Triela was going to kill herself, but she was going to run away, which in and of itself was "taking the easy way out" - at least on a literary level. I am sure it wasn't so "easy" considering the SWA would not want a cyborg running around - to say nothing of her enemies (witness the two Five Republics guys who found her on the street).

Instead, she chose to accept her feelings for Hilshire and vow to live what time she had left together with him.

LoC978 wrote:Kick The Dog: most of Jean's interactions with Rico qualify, but Lauro's every thought and action toward Elsa take this to a whole new level.

Which is why I think Jean needs to watch his back...

LoC978 wrote:...I never knew GSG had such a hugely exhaustive list on tropes...

Hell, it rivals some of the main stream stuff.

Kiskaloo wrote:Very good points. Triela has certainly shown her maturity in the later chapters of the manga. I don't mean to keep going on and on about Volume 10, but man, her arc really really impressed me.

As it did me. That little lady’s been though a hell of a lot but still managed to land on her feet.

Cool Big Sis: Triela.

West Nile wrote:homigosh look wat i just found in the tropes wiki

What a great web site! Some great reading here....

I don't really like the changes in tone and feel Petra inflicted on the series, but on the other hand I've never really felt an intense dislike for her either. Which is probably why I've ended up with the feeling that a lot of people who dislike her let that dislike dominate their statements about her more then proper analysis.

Personally, I imagine one of Yu's big reasons for writing Petra was that he'd been writing the other girls for like five volumes and he wanted to try something different. I think this is consistent with her having a major role for a few volumes, then fading more into the background as of late. I expect we'll see more of her later.

Personally, I think Petra has had some interesting storylines, although I have to admit I'm not quite sure what the hell Aida is trying to say with the development of her relationship with Sandro. There's a strong suggestion that this is actually supposed to be a serious relationship, and on the other hand I'm remembering how Sandro seems to have some sort of god complex (looking down on people in the square as a child, wanting to see what he could get Petra to do as if she was some kid trying to figure out how to use a new toy...). Sometimes he's portrayed as a prick and sometimes as a sympathetic character. Maybe that's Yu's intention, given the tone of the series, which has tended to be pretty grey, but it has made things awful confusing.

Anyhow, I'm hoping time will clarify that one.

Now aside from that, I don't think Petra's going suicidal is all that far out, nor really all that unsympathetic. She's been pushed towards one goal her whole life, and being in a foreign country for treatment she probably doesn't have anyone there to tell her 'oh, it's all right now, even if you can't do this anymore.' May not make for the best inspirational story, but frankly, things like that happen in real life. I think it's good that Yu Aida's characters reflect a variety of backgrounds and personalities, even if that means some are far less admirable then others.

As for being shallow, well, she has been the first cyborg to actually reflect on the morality of things from a big picture perspective. That ought to count for something. Although I suppose in some respects, she could be viewed as being a plot device to help tell other characters stories -Sandro's, Lady Rosso's, even Treila's and Claes.'

Speaking of which, even when Yu was putting her in a lot of stuff, he still often was giving a lot of attention to other characters. Triela and Claes in particular are examples. And seriously, talking about the other Second Gens as if they're taking much attention away from the First Gens -they showed up for like what, three pages? I hardly call that stealing much focus.

Lastly, the statement about Petra being Yu's favorite character is a bit interesting, but I'd like to know the source and context for it. TV tropes doesn't tend to require citations, so I wouldn't trust it unquestionably.

Piero wrote:Personally, I imagine one of Yu's big reasons for writing Petra was that he'd been writing the other girls for like five volumes and he wanted to try something different.

Many of the most successful mangas have been written about one main character and a handful of supporting characters. Before Petra and the gen2’s, Yu already had a slew of people to write about. Why did he suddenly feel it necessary to dump so many more in?

Piero wrote:Personally, I think Petra has had some interesting storylines, although I have to admit I'm not quite sure what the hell Aida is trying to say with the development of her relationship with Sandro.

Then I’ll tell you - sexual fan service, plain and simple. It serves no purpose and runs counter to the story. Adia, and some of his fans want to see Petra and Sandro knock boots and the sad part is, I think their going to get it.

Piero wrote: Sometimes he's portrayed as a prick and sometimes as a sympathetic character.

I think prick is more accurate. Compare him to Jose and Hillshire and tell me if he’s worthy of a young girls love.

1) I think I kind of explained this in my last post. He'd been writing those other characters for a while, and wanted to try something different for a bit. Remember, these volumes take a while to produce. He'd been working on those other characters for years by that point.

2) At the risk of coming across as a bit hostile, I'd chalk this up to a matter of letting your dislike for the characters be the driving force behind your judgements. You could be right, but I'm extremely doubtful. Personally, I'm sceptical that it's mere fan service, because if it was he could have been a hell of a lot more direct about it.

3) I'm not sure I'd say worthy, but I'm not sure I'd portray him as completely unsympathetic either. His recruitment by Italian intelligence in the flashbacks almost made it seem like he was being preyed upon somehow. And he obviously has a level of belief in what he's doing as a member of the SWA, judging by his argument that bad people (like himself, I presume) can protect good people from those who are even worse. (Sort of along the lines of an argument that you need people who are willing to do evil deeds to protect the innocent.)

Why did he suddenly feel it necessary to dump so many more in?

A writer block ?

Danjo3 wrote:

Piero wrote:Personally, I think Petra has had some interesting storylines, although I have to admit I'm not quite sure what the hell Aida is trying to say with the development of her relationship with Sandro.

Then I’ll tell you - sexual fan service, plain and simple. It serves no purpose and runs counter to the story. Adia, and some of his fans want to see Petra and Sandro knock boots and the sad part is, I think their going to get it.

I have absolutely zero familiarity with his fanbase in Japan, so I can't say whether or not a plurality of said fanbase wants to see a sexual fratello.

However, having an older character does allow him a bit more...leeway...in exploring the fratello relationship between handler and cyborg then with the Gen1 girls. I am very intrigued to see how Triela's and Hilshire's relationship advances. And Henrietta seems to have more of a "schoolgirl crush" on Giuseppe then serious feelings for him (as Triela now has for Hillshire).

While Petra declares her love for Sandro at the end of Chapter 44, I still can't help but feel it's more the conditioning talking then her own feelings, even if in her mind she believes it is the latter. However, in Chapter 45 after Angelica is mortally wounded protecting Marco, Sandro is upset when Petra notes she can do the same and he does tell her to never leave him alone. She answers with a smile, but in the last panel, she looks pensive...

Piero does make a point that Petra does have a pretty good handle on the current political state in Italy (Volume 7). And it is clear in that chapter that Sandro is part of that reason and he seems to be, if not challenging her to approach the issue on a more "meta level", perhaps he sees her as someone he can discuss his own thoughts about the conflict with.

Glad all of you are enjoying wiki tropes, im loving it too ^_^

You know, I didn't have much of an issue with Petra until she started messing with Claes, and being all "best friends" and buddy-buddy with her, poking and prodding about her past. It really irritated me... I guess because I'm a quiet type like Claes, and if I had someone I didn't know pressing me about details of my past that I had accepted and forgotten, I would get somewhat irritated. Especially if I then got out the shower and found them wearing my glasses O.o

The whole... "throwing up" thing bugs me too. Triela often speaks her mind to Hillshire, without feeling the need to throw up afterwards, and the basic 2nd Gen conditioning was supposed to be less than the 1st Gen. I also get annoyed, because as an older girl, she should be more capable of at least accepting the possibility that her feelings towards Sandro are no more than the conditioning.

Kiskaloo wrote:While Petra declares her love for Sandro at the end of Chapter 44, I still can't help but feel it's more the conditioning talking then her own feelings, even if in her mind she believes it is the latter.

This.

Petra is naive, period.

Nachtsider wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:While Petra declares her love for Sandro at the end of Chapter 44, I still can't help but feel it's more the conditioning talking then her own feelings, even if in her mind she believes it is the latter.

This.

Petra is naive, period.

she's your average teenage girl crushing on the latest movie star. ala Triela (our Triela) and Orlando Bloom

West Nile wrote:she's your average teenage girl crushing on the latest movie star. ala Triela (our Triela) and Orlando Bloom

ZING!

darksnowwhite wrote:You know, I didn't have much of an issue with Petra until she started messing with Claes, and being all "best friends" and buddy-buddy with her, poking and prodding about her past. It really irritated me...

You have to admit, she did look good after Petra's make-over in Chapter 33.

The whole... "throwing up" thing bugs me too. Triela often speaks her mind to Hillshire, without feeling the need to throw up afterwards, and the basic 2nd Gen conditioning was supposed to be less than the 1st Gen. I also get annoyed, because as an older girl, she should be more capable of at least accepting the possibility that her feelings towards Sandro are no more than the conditioning.

I certainly hope that is not a side effect of the Generation 2 series conditioning since my OC is one, as well. And she loves to cook. I mean this is Rome, but I'd rather not have Kara hang out in a vomitorium.

Nachtsider wrote:Petra is naive, period.

You may very well be on to something with that...

However, looking at the end of, say, Chapter 38, it's not like Alessandro isn't exactly drawing firm boundaries in regards to their relationship...

Kiskaloo wrote:However, looking at the end of, say, Chapter 38, it's not like Alessandro isn't exactly drawing firm boundaries in regards to their relationship...

He's taking advantage of her naivete.

Nachtsider wrote:

Kiskaloo wrote:However, looking at the end of, say, Chapter 38, it's not like Alessandro isn't exactly drawing firm boundaries in regards to their relationship...

He's taking advantage of her naivete.

And with his playboy reputation, it's possible Sandro could also seek Petra as a sexual partner which I'm sure Section 2 could have issues with. They were dumbstruck enough with how he chose to dress up Petra.

Nachtsider wrote:

West Nile wrote:she's your average teenage girl crushing on the latest movie star. ala Triela (our Triela) and Orlando Bloom

ZING!

Jeez you guys know me well! ... then again... you compared Petrushka to me. I'm insulted! >_< ^o^

Triela wrote:

Nachtsider wrote:

West Nile wrote:she's your average teenage girl crushing on the latest movie star. ala Triela (our Triela) and Orlando Bloom

ZING!

Jeez you guys know me well! ... then again... you compared Petrushka to me. I'm insulted! >_< ^o^

the moment i saw your name on the post i knew i had to prepare an apology

im sorry i just can't find another better example Triela

Gomen

West Nile wrote:

Triela wrote:

Nachtsider wrote:

West Nile wrote:she's your average teenage girl crushing on the latest movie star. ala Triela (our Triela) and Orlando Bloom

ZING!

Jeez you guys know me well! ... then again... you compared Petrushka to me. I'm insulted! >_< ^o^

the moment i saw your name on the post i knew i had to prepare an apology

im sorry i just can't find another better example Triela

Gomen

It's ok! ^_^ I am happy you though of my... slight obsession with Orlando Bloom... alright huge obsession...

darksnowwhite wrote:The whole... "throwing up" thing bugs me too. Triela often speaks her mind to Hillshire, without feeling the need to throw up afterwards, and the basic 2nd Gen conditioning was supposed to be less than the 1st Gen. I also get annoyed, because as an older girl, she should be more capable of at least accepting the possibility that her feelings towards Sandro are no more than the conditioning.

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think the vomiting was coincidental. She'd never smoked before, and he had just made her try one.

(Nicotine in a higher dose than you're used to is a powerful emetic. It depends on the brand and the person's sensitivity, but a nonsmoker who smokes a whole cigarette would probably throw up within half an hour at most.)

Kiskaloo wrote:I certainly hope that is not a side effect of the Generation 2 series conditioning since my OC is one, as well. And she loves to cook. I mean this is Rome, but I'd rather not have Kara hang out in a vomitorium.

I probably should have replied to both of you in one post, but I was too lazy to properly separate out the tags.

Vomitoriums (or vomitoria) did exist, but they weren't used for upchucking.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2421/were-there-really-vomitoriums-in-ancient-rome
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitoria

arimareiji wrote:

darksnowwhite wrote:The whole... "throwing up" thing bugs me too. Triela often speaks her mind to Hillshire, without feeling the need to throw up afterwards, and the basic 2nd Gen conditioning was supposed to be less than the 1st Gen. I also get annoyed, because as an older girl, she should be more capable of at least accepting the possibility that her feelings towards Sandro are no more than the conditioning.

I'm not absolutely sure, but I think the vomiting was coincidental. She'd never smoked before, and he had just made her try one.

It is not coincidental, as per the discussion with the doctor, Petra's conditioning level was quite high because she just 'came out of the vat' and needed to be adjusted. I see it as Petra should have been in the medical ward just a bit longer until things were sorted out but Sandro wanted to play with his new dolly so much he did not cared about what was to happen afterwards. Thus her conditioning setting must be so high (unlike Triela and Henrietta which are quite low), that talking about Sandro in a negative way upsets her little ballerina tummy....