2.2.16
on July 8, 2024
at 3:00 am
erin loves plans but he never really expects them to go wrong so backup plans are like a personal attack on him specifically
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
erin loves plans but he never really expects them to go wrong so backup plans are like a personal attack on him specifically
It’d be a real shame if Erin got kidnapped by sea people and no one could save him through all that water…
I’m putting 5 bucks on them turning the boat into a submarine.
Some Yellow paint for that idea?
I think Falst will add the bubble runes to the main water lacrima.
At this point this entire boat arc is just Chekhovs entire armory with all that foreshadowing, huh?
Chekhov’s battleship you could say
Props to Red; the Chekhov’s Gunning is less prominent than the character work.
At least it is not a train
I read a story where the author pulled a trigger for something they referred to as chehkov’s sniper rifle as 200 or so chapters in with an event they alluded to way back in ch 5
That’s a brilliant term for that kind of attack by Chekov.
For mobile readers
Alt text: that’s weird, the runes just say “chehkov’s gun”
image source: bubble
Tumblr text: pop!
Twitter text: talking shop
Why, thank you for translating the runes for us red!
“For goodness’ sake, Falst, there are better ways than just carving into the rock!” Erin says in exasperation. “Set it in a casing carved with the spell, or even draw the array on paper first–!”
“Not trying to get fancy with this. I just need to figure out the right words.”
“…This looks like a basic shield command, but you’ve added elements of constant circulation that would destabilize almost immediately,” Erin says, frowning at the lacrima. “What were you aiming for here?”
Falst looks at him for a moment, then tells him, “I wanted a bubble.”
“Excuse me?”
“An air bubble,” he says, taking the lacrima from Erin’s hand. “A shield, a cushion — could use it in a lot of ways, if I can figure out how to do it.”
“Falst, you could’ve just asked,” Erin… scoffs? IDK, clamping a hand over his tattoo and making one hovering above his hand. “I can make you an air bubble whenever you want!”
“You sure can,” Falst replies. “But you know what you can’t do? Everything at once.” Erin looks at him in surprise, the air bubble dissolving as the magic fades. “This is to save us when you can’t.”
“Ah,” Erin says, crossing his arms. “So when you agreed to trust that I had everything under control, you were just being polite?”
“I’m never polite,” Falst tells him. “And I’m not dumb enough to trust anyone with my life.” At this comment, Dainix looks at him with a sad expression on his face. “If nothing goes wrong, great. But if something does happen… then at least you won’t need to worry about making us a bubble.”
Falst is genre-savvy enough to know the team powerhouse might end up occupied or incapacitated by the author to make a tough situation more interesting.
honestly i don’t think there’s a single member that can’t be described as “the team powerhouse”
I think their Powerhouse can be summed up as “anyone except Falst”. It could be argued they’re a thoroughly overpowered party by some measures, even if they need super powered evil sides and/or harmful transformations to access the peak of their power. It works here, but in most parties when someone asks about the incarnation of a force beyond mortal understanding the answer isn’t “which one?”
“How dare you imply we might face unforeseen circumstances in this voyage! What do you take us for, protagonists?!”
“It’s like you’re not confident we’ll just have an uneventful travel montage for a couple of pages at most before reaching our destination!”
Boowomp
Oh no, Dainix heard that…
Falst wants a bubble, ‘cause sometimes you need tricks
And expresses opinions which concern Dainix
As Erin recharges the lacrima,
Falst explains his plan,
To make a bubble with many uses,
Which Erin demonstrates he can.
“But you know what you can’t do?” Falst says,
“Everything at once.”
Erin feels hurt by a lack of faith,
And gives an angry response.
“I’m not dumb enough to trust anyone with my life,”
Falst tells Erin, defiant.
From the hammock, troubled, Dainix watches
The magus and the Ferin self-reliant.
These ‘here’s a bunch of tools that will help us later’ pages are really hard to compress into stanzas, especially since Red puts so many great character moments in them that I want to include.
Yeah, I feel you. I’m pretty strict with myself on sticking to one couplet per page (I want to practice my summarizing skills), but it’s definitely not lead to great results with these pages. It’s either them, or the “let me regail you with a large chunk of exposition while the characters interrupt the narration in character-revealing ways”-pages.
oof Dainix in the background…
also I’m finally in the right timezone to catch these at the right time!
Because Erin never does contingency planning? Oh, right, he does it because he doesn’t feel anyone has his superior abilities. So if someone else does it, it’s not contingency planning, it’s a failure to recognize his superior abilities. Only, of course people can’t understand what he can… so therefore they need to just trust him.
So coming up with a plan of their own is a breach of trust.
Step right up, folks, to the fun little ride that is Erin’s brain. Every plan’s a winner! 🥇
Chejkov’s bubble
Well, I guess I will do it if no one did yet.
Alt-text: that’s weird, the runes just say “chekhov’s gun”
Image source: bubble
Skurwiel Tuńczyk did it first. I dozed off between 12:50 AM and 1:15 AM, so I wasn’t able to do it myself.
Erin is a tremendous academic, but he could benefit from a lesson in Tarren’s field. Redundancy isn’t just beneficial, it’s critical.
Falst’s strategy could also do with some improvement. Pitch it as a challenge, Erin will be all over it.
Absolutely love how the characters’ traits lead them to believable flaws like these, splendid writing.
the hurt in dainix’s eyes in the second-last panel. this gives the same vibes as 2.1.34 when dainix said he would ‘be a poor raavan if he let his team pretend they were indestructible’, and you can see falst’s reaction in the back, maybe a bit testy because of 2.1.13, the ‘unstoppable ally that yields to neither death nor pain – does anyone know if there was a moment in the caves when falst might have implied something that he trusts dainix with his life, or something similar? or is dainix maybe just sad that falst doesn’t trust him with his life? falst my boy, i love you but so does dainix i’m pretty sure, and those words are not helping with his current condition.
“i’m not dumb enough to trust anyone with my life”, he says, completely in earshot of Dainix, the guy he recently had an entire arc wherein they both ended up trusting each other with their lives. that definitely won’t make Dainix doubt anything regarding the nature of their relationship! (sarcasm)
not to mention Erin saving his life when he got void corrupted
I was thinking about that too. Dainix looks stricken.
A portable air bubble is a great idea, all things considered, and I get where Falst is coming from. Better to have contingencies and backup plans. Just… oof, what a way to word it near the guy who said “I trust you” while flaming desperately out into Crucible mode.
I just can’t wait to find out how Falst is going to try and spin that dumbass remark. The only way I can think of getting out of that is to look over at Dainix and say, “Oh, crap, I didn’t mean it like that,” and take whatever comes.
Although I suddenly wonder if Falst genuinely doesn’t remember what happened to him. Or are we setting up for Dainix to pin Falst down on what the heck that was in the Ancient bunker?
golly gee i sure hope we don’t need these bubbles when we go down to the bottom of the ocean to meet the mermaids and fight a giant kraken/sea serpent/whatever monstrosity Red made specifically to terrorize Blue when he reads this part of the comic
thank goodness none of that’s happening even though the characters have been bringing all of these things up for the last several pages!
Erin, Falst has a good idea there. If the fighter has an item to put up a shield, that might be one less thing the supermage has to worry about so the supermage can focus on something else. Incorporate it into your plans rather than discouraging it.
Jeez falst, I know a backup plans a good idea but do you have to do it in a way in which you hurt EVERYONES feelings??
I feel so bad for dainix and Erin though, Erin clearly has some anxiety about people not trusting him and dainix kinda just got called dumb and thinks falst didn’t really trust him in the caves. At least I think that’s what’s going on.
Chekov’s funny rock
Erin this is just basic future-proofing. Having skills spread out across the group means someone can be backup, OR you can do two of the thing at once. It’s optimal strategy.
Dainix looks so hurt how could you do that to him catboy!
Falst is a Bubble Buddy now
Oof, Falst, saying that you aren’t dumb enough to trust ANYONE with your life when you spent hours in a dungeon with Dainix, who trusted you with his life and saved yours multiple times? Right in front of him? The air bubble contingency plan may hurt Erin’s feelings but it is a very good idea. Falst is being smart and stupid in the same page.
Sooo, Falst is uh not great at working with people, in certain ways. That was one of the more abrasive possible ways, to everyone in earshot, to convey a basically good point. Like, Erin was in fact not present on the cave adventure, so with that as an example it’s obviously useful to distribute some capabilities to more members of the party, and that’s not hard to explain as such without invoking trust at all.
Here I think that Falst is telling a half truth. He hasn’t trusted anyone with his life unless he had to. We only know of Danix but there may have been others temporarily. We saw how he reacted to the gang’s kindness, this may well be the longest kindness like theirs this has lasted. Falst may well trust Danix with his life still, but with this lack of trust as a default and Falst not used to having others to rely on, he may have said this more out of habit (and hurt) than genuine feeling. This sunded more like an automatic answer. I don’t think he was considering Danix in that moment either, after all, Falst is never polite.
This, I’d say. People say dumb schmidt sometimes, IRL, and others misunderstand. We’re just not used to it happening in drama.
AHH there’s Erin’s pride. For a moment I thought the academic in him would be excited for Falst learning and improving. But no. Taking offense to someone trying to make a precaution. Erin knows what lifeboats are right? They aren’t an insult to the sailors or engineers. With how Erin is with plans and how he likes contingencies, how is there anything wrong with Falst making another contingency?
Thing is, I don’t think it’s just pride– it’s deeply ingrained anxiety. Erin knows he’s smart, but he’s also got to know unexpected things DO come up, because *gestures to entire comic*. Anxiety is a bit of a logic trap, because surely if you think of EVERYthing, you can control the situation and make it go how you want, so you’re never unprepared or caught off guard. At the same time, your brain is constantly offering things that could go sideways, and you’re stuck until you can provide an answer. Erin is just very good at not listening to that second part, and given what he’s said about his soul links, I suspect I know why. Packing that kind of power, he has to try and anticipate everything that could happen, because he might not not be able to fix it if things go badly.
Backup plans are a personal attack because they force him to listen to the part he’s avoiding. That’s my (admittedly personal) read on it.
(What do you MEAN I’m projecting onto this fictional character, who does that.)
Don’t worry Sylvermage! Lot’s of people project. If this is not too deep a wound, why would being forced to listen to the second half of that voice be a personal attack? It still is not an indictment of his character or skill. though you are right that my read may be a bit harsh. I Like Erin’s character and try to see motives other than “he’s a snob” so thank you for showing a new angle!
🙂 Well, if it doesn’t sound too fanatical, I’m happy to explain my thoughts. Incoming essay.
It’s a personal attack because it forces him to accept he might not actually be in total control. A backup plan means that his first plan has a flaw, that his control is not absolute, and that shatters his illusion that he can force things to go his way.
I very strongly suspect that something went Very Wrong in his past, as a result of his powers and the sheer amount of power he has. Something he couldn’t fix or undo. And he has to believe that preventing something similar is possible with enough forethought, because if it was random chance or accident, then he is powerless to prevent it from happening again, and he can’t live with that. It hurt him, and he needs to convince himself that with enough control he won’t experience that hurt again.
This is absolutely hubris, because believing you can control things to that extent is ludicrous. Of course things will happen that you can’t anticipate. Especially if there are others involved. You will screw up, you will be misunderstood, and things will go wrong. Erin has to know he can’t do everything all at once, but if he admits that, he admits he might have missed something and his control isn’t perfect. And that cracks open the door to something he doesn’t want to think about.
It’s not logical, but that’s how anxiety works.
This is compounded by the fact that he not only has city-leveling power himself, he’s playing chauffeur to a creature older than memory with even MORE power, and if his control slips, that creature is going to quite handily end all life as he knows it. That part is, ironically, completely logical; he *should* be scared shitless of the Dragon. It’s just if he thinks about it too hard, he’ll probably disintegrate.
Of course, I am COMPLETELY talking out of my ass here. Being the most powerful, intelligent, specialist boy in the room at any given time, at not even 20, is bound to mean the situations you can’t force to go your way are slim to none, so he may just not be used to being unable to control his surroundings and it makes him cranky. But somehow I don’t think so. You don’t develop that pathological need for control unless you’re trying to protect yourself from SOMEthing.
FWIW, I don’t think Falst is trying to be hurtful, either. He hesitated before telling Erin his thought process; every member of the squad knows Erin is telling himself lies to keep it together. But Falst doesn’t have the luxury of deluding himself that everything will go well, because for him it generally doesn’t.
…thanks for coming to my Ted Talk? :p
Ooooo, that’s a very interesting take.
(I’m sure no one ever projects onto a fictional character.)
Since nobody seems to have posted it…
The runes seen on the lacrima read “CIRCULATE”.
Thanks as always, Mat 😀
person who said “SCUBA lacrima” on the last page seems to have been on to something.
Finally, someone said it. Erin had already been trying to do everything: answer questions, control the boat, keep an eye on the lacrima, look after their member with seasickness. He can’t possibly keep it up.
I love all the closeup angles here, especially in the glow of the lacrima. Somebody tell Falst to stop staring at us through the fourth wall, though. It’s like he can hear all these Chekhov’s guns being cocked.
Wouldn’t it be funny if after all this preparation for something going badly, and all of Erin’s “nothing’s going to go badly”, and all of everyone else’s “we don’t trust you to stop something bad from happening but we will hold you responsible if something bad happens,” … nothing bad actually happens. I mean it would make for a terrible story, but it would be funny as hell.
honestly i’d be down for that, not everything needs to be an arc. sometimes things just go well
although i am a slut for underwater horror so in this specific case i’m kidding no one by pretending i don’t want things to go catastrophic
Oh my god I’ve never seen Dainix with such a sad puppy face :((
“how dare you, i’m never polite!”
Doesn’t Falst know the rules? All bubble blowing babies will be beaten senseless by every able-bodied patron in the bar.
On one hand, Erin is right about carving the spell outside the lacrima and applying that; you could carve a more complex spell than the size of the lacrima allows and you can easily swap out one spell for another without risking damage to the lacrima. On the other hand, if you need a certain spell quick and you’re likely to use it a lot, carving it into the rock makes sense; certain situations leave no time to swap casings for certain spells.
People are going on about Dainix in panel 9, but Erin in panel 6 also really gets to me. Him showing that he can do that spell easily might seem boastful, but his expression and the way he says it makes me think he’s almost looking for validation. He wants Falst to trust in his ability, knowledge, and dependability, especially after all the doubts Alinua and Dainix had with him. But, while Falst may be correct in needing contingencies, his wording comes off as insulting to Erin.
Dainix, as a Ravvan trained soldier, would probably have no problem trusting people with his life, as he did in the dungeon with Falst. He knows Falst’s backstory, that one of his parents attacked him, the other possibly abandoned him, and lived the rest of his life on the run and injured a lot of the time. I wonder in panel 9, is Dainix hurt because of Falst’s comment, or is he sad for Falst because, in spite of everything they went through, he’s still unable to fully trust anyone.
I’m tempted to say “Well, Falst said he’s never polite,” but that’s just an excuse, isn’t it? Yeah, he’s had a rough life and he’s never had the time or energy to waste on politeness, so he’s certainly never practiced it, but that still doesn’t give him carte blanche to be a jerk about it. Brutal honesty is brutal, and only mostly honest, and while Erin needs to hear it, especially after the conversation above decks, Dainix didn’t need to be caught in the cross fire. In fact– hold on, be right back, I have ideas
I mean, as an Amulet kid, I’m always down for suspiciously functional underwater bubble shield things, but like… why do they all have to be so in-character about it? And after we JUST talked about your hubris, Erin, COME on.
Danix looked so betrayed in panel nine.
Nobody liked that…
Dainix will remember that…
This action will have consequences…
Oh Dainix noooooo
I love that as soon as Falst heard Dainix was about the ocean he went off to craft a spell to make it easier for them to survive if they ended up being swept into it
omg I did not think of that
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: he only deigned to ask to distract Erin from his delightful little infodump at Dainix’s expense. Whether or not that gave him the idea is up for debate, but it certainly helped to act on it
I just realized- Falst figuratively and literally burst Erin’s bubble.
TL;DR: We need backups because you can’t be everywhere doing everything.
Mr. Hubris: shocked Pikachu face
Whatcha bet Falst is not making this bubble for himself, nor for Kendal or Alinua or Tess, and definitely not for Erin: Falst is making this bubble because he wants Dainix to survive. It would not surprise me if Falst is a strong swimmer himself.
wait yes. YES.
“I’m glad you like knowing how to do things. I, too, like knowing how to do things.”
*Erin took that personally*
“I’m never polite.” Yup, that’s our Falst.
I really do wonder what Dainix is thinking…
I have a feeling that this is going to be Erin Forceful Against His Will character development time, and I am SO for it. I wanna know what’s going on in his head so bad.
noo Falst nooo don’t do this to Dainix :<
anyway- interesting that we’re looking into both Falst’s and Erin’s complex in one page
I liked the expression of emotions on the faces of all the characters on this page. An interesting study of character interaction.
I am amused at the Checkov’s gun bit. I’m sort of breaking that trope because I have a character who is very good at being prepped and paranoid. I don’t have enough room in a single story to feasibly work out using every single contingency he’s built or arranged.
I should probably work some commentary into a scene calling out the things that proved unneeded in the end, so that they at least do not feel like dangling ends.
And I just realized that I might have given myself a ‘gun’ to use in a different story that is (mostly) going to take place about a decade after this one.
Dainex looks sad. Methinks he liked the idea of him and Falst depending on each other. :3
Trust issues? In MY rogue character!?
It’s more likely than you think!
Ow, straight in the hubris.
… And the feels. Poor Dainix.
Betrayed
THE LOOK OF BETRAYAL OMG
this is all just setting up erin’s de-hubrising arc
These goes Falst, reminding me why he’s my favorite character again.
Inside Falst there are two wolves: one thinks the world is out to get him and one is out to get it first. Erin can act similar, to be fair.