. “He’s not getting up!” Alinua says, watching Kendal anxiously from next to the wheel.
. “Tess, for the LAST time–” Falst cries, yanking the air lacrima off the wheel.
. “This plan is bad,” Tess says, Erin slung over her back. “Just let me get you off of this ship.”
. “Get Erin to shore and you can complain about my plan till Brennsday,” Falst growls, cutting some runes into the lacrima with his claw.
. “If you run afoul of that Void stuff, Erin’s in no shape to save you right now. Drop the pride and climb on.”
. “I’m not leaving without Dainix,” Falst says sharply, glaring at her.
. Tess stares at him for a minute, then grins. “Lucky guy,” she says, lightning starting to crackle around her.
Falst and Alinua run down the stairs and across the deck, Falst with the two lacrimas in his hands, as Tess launches herself off the ship. Her lightning-path traces towards the island near them, an orange glow lighting the sky at the top of the mountain.
Okay I honestly completely forgot about this page ‘:D
Sorry!
Well, the plan hasn’t been explained, that means it’ll *probably* work…
But then again, Kendal and Dainix have to have their underwater arc…
Not Tess being the only one who understands about *feelings*
I’m skeptical that this island was what was in the background of last page’s last panel, it doesn’t have the spires/spikes… I’m thinking that that was the serpent. And it will very soon be causing Troubles for the Floof Squad. Could be wrong though!
So, that’s probably Rakhn, because of the whole volcano-firey-glow-thing going on. I wonder if Tess and Erin will meet the god? Maybe he’ll show himself because of their relation with Kendal? Hmmmmmm
Carrying her brother, Tess urges Falst
To come with her to the shores.
“I’m not leaving without Dainix,” he says.
“Lucky guy.” Tess leaps and soars.
With a lacrima torn from the wheel of the ship,
And Alinua beside him Falst races
Past melted rails towards Dainix,
And Kendal, and fire in their faces.
I love this sooooo MUCH!!!! Tess is truly the greatest at saying a lot with a little.
Also, I’m so happy that they’re within sight of shore. My thalassophobia had been really kicking in there for a while.
I’m curious how Kendal will apologize to Alinua this time and how they will save Dainix.
Thoughts?
I love Falst! Uses his Chekov’s orb in exactly the right situation, then *immediately* starts repurposing ship parts to do… something interesting, I’m sure. Maybe a purpose-built spell to help with the storm? Put out fires? (Though I sincerely doubt it’ll work on Dainix’s actual body). He seems very clever, and works incredibly fast under pressure.
Also, he finally slips and lets some emotion through! I noticed he said “I’m not leaving” rather than “we’re not leaving,” and clearly Tess did too. She seems like a much more experienced queer. Though who knows what the prevalence/normalization of queer people is like in Aurora. I mean, Red, but you get my point.
I think red said at one point that apart of what they decided to do for the social world of aurora is to create a binormative society, so intend of assuming everyone is straight it is assumed everyone is bi which is fun!
iirc bisexuality is the cultural default in the world of Aurora, so two men in a(n approaching-)romantic relationship isn’t technically ‘queer’ in-universe, if you get what I mean. I sure hope I’m not totally misremembering that lore tidbit, though.
Shrike is so interesting to me as a low-level antagonist who thinks she’s gonna be hot shit and might actually have the stuff to back it up. I mean, it’s not going to happen, but I can see her being a REAL problem down the line. Not to mention the pipeline of abused gladiator to abusive slave-trader; there’s so much to explore there. Plus, I know she’s actually a really fun person. I just know it.
Why is it not going to happen? I could easily see her as the Collector’s right hand, especially since she’s a bounty hunter and the Collector probably wants the floof gang alive so she can dissect their souls
I don’t think The Collector would trust anyone that isn’t a direct extension of her own mind to acquire collectibles for her, honestly! She’s a very hands-on sorta gal, and not especially sociable. If anything, the Light Dragon seems much more likely to act as her (reluctant) sponsor, now that she’s hanging around with Theia.
That being said, I also think that Shrike doesn’t actually NEED a powerful backer to be a really big problem for the Floof Squad. She clever, resourceful, and ruthless, so all she really needs is to be in the right place at the right time to wreak havoc!
I just mean that her current plan of going from one-off nuisance to lead villain isn’t going to happen. She seems to be want to enslave Alinua and rule as some sort of magical warlord, but considring that she’s in competition with MULTIPLE immortal beings bent on destroying the world, there’s only so big a part she can play despite her wanton ambition.
Theia (junior archivist) who will of course come with Shrike.
Aside from that I would really love to see Tarren’s reaction to Erin telling them what happened to the ship.
“It held well enough in the storm but fell apart fast when hit by the breath weapon of the mother of all dragons, a Crucible’s soulfire and the soul energy of a demigod at the same time.”
I’d like to hear Trusk’s reaction to Shrike and Theia’s interactions. Caliban and Tahriam’s comments can be intriguing. Lady Huracan’s interactions with her allies would be enlightening. Vash and the spirits of his dead city still have insights the can impart in my view.
Tarren! I wish we got the chance to see them marvelling at the extensive damage Erin managed to do to the boat (or rather, the mild-mannered Ignan who isn’t even a mage). Though, I don’t forsee any deep-sea wreckage diving.
In terms of interesting-ness definitely Tarren. They’re awesome and i would love to just sit down with them and have a nice chat about literally whatever. In terms of style, I liked Gliecann (am I spelling that right) and the pretty lake goddess who’s name escapes me at the moment but she appeared right after we met Erin to info dump on Kendal 😀
Tahraim! I love calm characters and ones that speak in riddles. His interactions with other characters and his tendancy to figure out the plot are both very interesting.
Conjecture: This is a slick way to prolong not explaining Erin’s exact deal to the rest of the squad while letting him and Tess speak freely about it. Difficult to overhear them when you’re at the bottom of the ocean. If the next chapter is Adventures in Thalassophobia then this party split may last a lot longer than intended.
“I’m not leaving without Dainix.” “Lucky guy :D” oh my goodness I love it
Go Tess! I didn’t see a literal lightning-leap to shore coming; I didn’t realize the land (Rakhn I presume?) was so close. But hey, if it gets Erin to safe harbor…
I share Alinua’s concern for Kendal and really hope she’s able to to help him. As for Falst… I’m curious as to what his bad plan is and what he’s going to do. Evidently it involves more magic, though. I forget, was the lacrima embedded near the wheel another wind lacrima? It was, wasn’t it? I think the water one was in the mast.
Can we just take a minute to appreciate how cool Tess’s powers are visually? And those clouds underlit with orange in the background? Gorgeous. And also probably not a great sign for that volcano island being a safe place to exist in general.
Tess saves Erin, Alinua saves Kendal, Falst saves Dainix. There are some strong bonds in this group, even if each of them is for an entirely different reason. (Unless you ship Alinua and Kendal. Then two of them are for the same reason.)
…Brennsday…has Red given us a list of days of each Sef? Or is she dropping worldbuilding tidbits? I bet she’s dropping worldbuilding tidbits. She likes to do that.
Also finally seeing that island in the distance makes me realize how ready I am for the plot to get off the boat. We’ve been on the boat for a while. …Has it seriously been almost a year since arc 2 started?
I was wondering who would figure it out first. Let the friendly teasing commence! Also Tess just being the one to help out others emotionally is just the funniest thing to me but that might have to do with her emotional stability and a decent ability to recognize others emotions while everyone else is/can be lacking one of those in one form or another. Oh and would look what’s on the horizon “You are so f*cking cute” “now I feel like an *sshole” “I know” I think I’m starting to figure out the context.
I think he was talking about getting an air lacrima to make an air bubble underwater? So it could be that (it also, to me at least, looks more like air’s slightly purple vibe than water’s more blue-ish)
That’s an Air lacrima, it’s purpleish and also the air one was in the wheel, the water one was in the mast and it’s now probably destroyed because of Dainix burning the mast
Tess’s lightening powers still mystify me but her ability to read others is very clear here. Alinua’s looks very worried but who is going tell Dainix that they know he’s still in there? I don’t know if that trope used multiple callers before (though it might have) but I know that may go counter to some people’s expectations. I wonder what Kendal might say to calm Alinua?
Now that Erin and Tess have moved to land, I would like to voice a concern:
I’m worried Tess is going to get hurt by Erin’s Void.
Not right now necessarily, but later on, maybe arcs later. She’s the only party member who doesn’t have any defenses against it (assuming Falst’s light powers can protect him) and has the closest emotional connection to Erin. It’s very easy for me to envision a point in Erin’s possession where he’s losing it to VD’s influence, maybe he’s been testing his Void powers, and he has a wake-up call in the form of hurting Tess when she tries to help him.
I hope this doesn’t happen (because it’s Tess and she’s awesome) but I think it would be interesting.
Thoughts?
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: live Tess reaction
Image source: lucky
tumblr text: and we’re back!
Twitter/Bluesky text: Meanwhile, back in the fire
. “He’s not getting up!” Alinua says, watching Kendal anxiously from next to the wheel.
. “Tess, for the LAST time–” Falst cries, yanking the air lacrima off the wheel.
. “This plan is bad,” Tess says, Erin slung over her back. “Just let me get you off of this ship.”
. “Get Erin to shore and you can complain about my plan till Brennsday,” Falst growls, cutting some runes into the lacrima with his claw.
. “If you run afoul of that Void stuff, Erin’s in no shape to save you right now. Drop the pride and climb on.”
. “I’m not leaving without Dainix,” Falst says sharply, glaring at her.
. Tess stares at him for a minute, then grins. “Lucky guy,” she says, lightning starting to crackle around her.
Falst and Alinua run down the stairs and across the deck, Falst with the two lacrimas in his hands, as Tess launches herself off the ship. Her lightning-path traces towards the island near them, an orange glow lighting the sky at the top of the mountain.
Okay I honestly completely forgot about this page ‘:D
Sorry!
Well, the plan hasn’t been explained, that means it’ll *probably* work…
But then again, Kendal and Dainix have to have their underwater arc…
Not Tess being the only one who understands about *feelings*
I’m skeptical that this island was what was in the background of last page’s last panel, it doesn’t have the spires/spikes… I’m thinking that that was the serpent. And it will very soon be causing Troubles for the Floof Squad. Could be wrong though!
So, that’s probably Rakhn, because of the whole volcano-firey-glow-thing going on. I wonder if Tess and Erin will meet the god? Maybe he’ll show himself because of their relation with Kendal? Hmmmmmm
where is that alt-tex
So handy to have a member of the gang who can fly! Sure hope nothing else sentient is up there in that storm….
Not fly!
Jump good!
That’s not flying, that’s jumping with style!
That’s not jumping, it’s arcing!
You joke but…
In the right circumstances, jumping can be as good as flying.
Jumping from a small ship to a large beach is the right circumstances. The reverse, not so much. I don’t know how well Tess can swim.
Desperation marks the page
They mean to escape the flaming rage
Carrying her brother, Tess urges Falst
To come with her to the shores.
“I’m not leaving without Dainix,” he says.
“Lucky guy.” Tess leaps and soars.
With a lacrima torn from the wheel of the ship,
And Alinua beside him Falst races
Past melted rails towards Dainix,
And Kendal, and fire in their faces.
The composition of that final panel is stunning.
Tess once again knowing more about the group than all the rest collectively know about themselves. Love to see it!
(Though she kind of shares that trait with Falst and Dainix, but I’d argue that unlike them, Tess has herself pretty much figured out.)
A true archetypical powerhouse, only gayer and therefore better
She gets it
The look in Falst’s eye when he said that he was not going to leave Dainix!! 😀
I love this sooooo MUCH!!!! Tess is truly the greatest at saying a lot with a little.
Also, I’m so happy that they’re within sight of shore. My thalassophobia had been really kicking in there for a while.
I’m curious how Kendal will apologize to Alinua this time and how they will save Dainix.
Thoughts?
I love Falst! Uses his Chekov’s orb in exactly the right situation, then *immediately* starts repurposing ship parts to do… something interesting, I’m sure. Maybe a purpose-built spell to help with the storm? Put out fires? (Though I sincerely doubt it’ll work on Dainix’s actual body). He seems very clever, and works incredibly fast under pressure.
Also, he finally slips and lets some emotion through! I noticed he said “I’m not leaving” rather than “we’re not leaving,” and clearly Tess did too. She seems like a much more experienced queer. Though who knows what the prevalence/normalization of queer people is like in Aurora. I mean, Red, but you get my point.
I think red said at one point that apart of what they decided to do for the social world of aurora is to create a binormative society, so intend of assuming everyone is straight it is assumed everyone is bi which is fun!
iirc bisexuality is the cultural default in the world of Aurora, so two men in a(n approaching-)romantic relationship isn’t technically ‘queer’ in-universe, if you get what I mean. I sure hope I’m not totally misremembering that lore tidbit, though.
Tess and Falst’s dynamic is pure gold
What about “never split the party.”
They have split the party :p
Eh, it’s fine. Since when has there ever been a suprise attack on them during a supposedly peaceful trip?
There is still the sea monster with the Collector. Although that might end up being an on shore fight.
*remembers WHAT HAPPENED LIKE 15 PAGES AGO*
There’s still the the Collector and her sea monster. She might be waiting for the right time to attack.
But the island’s right there! It’s not like anything bad can happen while they’re still in sight of one another.
Tess just be like “I know what you are”
Aurora Question #26: What Side Character would you like to see more of in the future? Why?
Does Zuurith count as a side character? I’d say so.
Shrike and the Junior Archivist have been absent since the interlude. I wonder what they’re up to.
More Theia please
Seconded. She’s fun.
I wanted to see more of the Vash ghosts.
Tahraim! I love his design and also he’s funny
SHRIKE. SHRIKE. SHRIKE. SHRIKE.
Shrike is so interesting to me as a low-level antagonist who thinks she’s gonna be hot shit and might actually have the stuff to back it up. I mean, it’s not going to happen, but I can see her being a REAL problem down the line. Not to mention the pipeline of abused gladiator to abusive slave-trader; there’s so much to explore there. Plus, I know she’s actually a really fun person. I just know it.
Why is it not going to happen? I could easily see her as the Collector’s right hand, especially since she’s a bounty hunter and the Collector probably wants the floof gang alive so she can dissect their souls
The Collector is probably the strongest human alive, she doesn’t need to hire anyone.
Shrike is also already after the group
I don’t think The Collector would trust anyone that isn’t a direct extension of her own mind to acquire collectibles for her, honestly! She’s a very hands-on sorta gal, and not especially sociable. If anything, the Light Dragon seems much more likely to act as her (reluctant) sponsor, now that she’s hanging around with Theia.
That being said, I also think that Shrike doesn’t actually NEED a powerful backer to be a really big problem for the Floof Squad. She clever, resourceful, and ruthless, so all she really needs is to be in the right place at the right time to wreak havoc!
I just mean that her current plan of going from one-off nuisance to lead villain isn’t going to happen. She seems to be want to enslave Alinua and rule as some sort of magical warlord, but considring that she’s in competition with MULTIPLE immortal beings bent on destroying the world, there’s only so big a part she can play despite her wanton ambition.
Tahraim and Caliban! I love both of them and their interactions.
Theia (junior archivist) who will of course come with Shrike.
Aside from that I would really love to see Tarren’s reaction to Erin telling them what happened to the ship.
“It held well enough in the storm but fell apart fast when hit by the breath weapon of the mother of all dragons, a Crucible’s soulfire and the soul energy of a demigod at the same time.”
SHRIKE SHRIKE SHRIKE SHRIKE I LOVE HER SM
I’d like to hear Trusk’s reaction to Shrike and Theia’s interactions. Caliban and Tahriam’s comments can be intriguing. Lady Huracan’s interactions with her allies would be enlightening. Vash and the spirits of his dead city still have insights the can impart in my view.
Tarren!! They definitely deserve more page time
Tarren! I wish we got the chance to see them marvelling at the extensive damage Erin managed to do to the boat (or rather, the mild-mannered Ignan who isn’t even a mage). Though, I don’t forsee any deep-sea wreckage diving.
Shrike, hands down. Luckily, the interlude scene pretty much confirmed that we’re going to be seeing a LOT more of her in the future! I can’t wait!
Definitely Tarren, they seemed like such a fun and interesting character
In terms of interesting-ness definitely Tarren. They’re awesome and i would love to just sit down with them and have a nice chat about literally whatever. In terms of style, I liked Gliecann (am I spelling that right) and the pretty lake goddess who’s name escapes me at the moment but she appeared right after we met Erin to info dump on Kendal 😀
I think her name was Lady Ilia but I could be wrong.
Tahraim! I love calm characters and ones that speak in riddles. His interactions with other characters and his tendancy to figure out the plot are both very interesting.
I’d love to see Tarren again. They’re great.
giving the gays everything they want
Conjecture: This is a slick way to prolong not explaining Erin’s exact deal to the rest of the squad while letting him and Tess speak freely about it. Difficult to overhear them when you’re at the bottom of the ocean. If the next chapter is Adventures in Thalassophobia then this party split may last a lot longer than intended.
“I’m not leaving without Dainix.” “Lucky guy :D” oh my goodness I love it
Go Tess! I didn’t see a literal lightning-leap to shore coming; I didn’t realize the land (Rakhn I presume?) was so close. But hey, if it gets Erin to safe harbor…
I share Alinua’s concern for Kendal and really hope she’s able to to help him. As for Falst… I’m curious as to what his bad plan is and what he’s going to do. Evidently it involves more magic, though. I forget, was the lacrima embedded near the wheel another wind lacrima? It was, wasn’t it? I think the water one was in the mast.
I genuinely thought Tess said “lucky gay” at first glance lol
Oh come on we are RIGHT THERE MAN!
I love Tess so much <3
The perspectives in the panels, the art, the aaaart!
Can we just take a minute to appreciate how cool Tess’s powers are visually? And those clouds underlit with orange in the background? Gorgeous. And also probably not a great sign for that volcano island being a safe place to exist in general.
Did Falst charge the bubble lacrima with the other wind lacrima?
Tess ships the Crustibles
Okay, so Tess is now on Team Crustables too. Okay. Okay. Okay!
genuine question what does Team Crustables mean (I might be stupid)
One part is crucible and its the Falst and Dainix shipname
crustables is a bastardization of crucible+falst, which was the ship name people came up with before Dainix was formally introduced.
well, good news is we didn’t hear them say the plan on-screen, so hopefully the Unspoken Plan Guarantee will carry them through it with minimal issue?
Anyone know what flavor of lacrima is on the helm? If it’s water Falst could be trying to put Dain out but I’m not sure it is
Do one(1) cave arc with Falst and he will be stuck to you like superglue. You will not be able to make him leave
Shipper on deck.
No, shipper jumping off deck. Weren’t you paying attention?
Tess saves Erin, Alinua saves Kendal, Falst saves Dainix. There are some strong bonds in this group, even if each of them is for an entirely different reason. (Unless you ship Alinua and Kendal. Then two of them are for the same reason.)
…Brennsday…has Red given us a list of days of each Sef? Or is she dropping worldbuilding tidbits? I bet she’s dropping worldbuilding tidbits. She likes to do that.
Also finally seeing that island in the distance makes me realize how ready I am for the plot to get off the boat. We’ve been on the boat for a while. …Has it seriously been almost a year since arc 2 started?
I believe it’s another name for Learner’s Lesson, though I don’t know for sure
Worldbuilding tidbits! Someone asked about Brennsday on the Tumblr, apparently it’s an end-of-“year” feast day: https://www.tumblr.com/comicaurora/769405879498981376/red-theres-a-lot-going-on-in-todays-page-so
Bookwyrm just smacked me in the face with time and now i’m feeling with how i/long/ it’s been since arc two started
*Dealing
Fuck autocorrect
it has been a year, oh wow
I was wondering who would figure it out first. Let the friendly teasing commence! Also Tess just being the one to help out others emotionally is just the funniest thing to me but that might have to do with her emotional stability and a decent ability to recognize others emotions while everyone else is/can be lacking one of those in one form or another. Oh and would look what’s on the horizon “You are so f*cking cute” “now I feel like an *sshole” “I know” I think I’m starting to figure out the context.
Anyone aware of what flavor of lacrima Falst took out of the helm? I think it’s water but the glow is kinda indistinct
I think he was talking about getting an air lacrima to make an air bubble underwater? So it could be that (it also, to me at least, looks more like air’s slightly purple vibe than water’s more blue-ish)
That’s an Air lacrima, it’s purpleish and also the air one was in the wheel, the water one was in the mast and it’s now probably destroyed because of Dainix burning the mast
TL;DR: Take Mr. Hubris and go. I’m staying in the name of bromance!
“Gayass”
*casts thunder step*
PFFFFFFFFFFFFF-
Tess knows what’s up
Erin’s arm has that nasty gash on it. Will this effect the function of his seal tattoos given their pattern has been disturbed?
Anyone notice the background on this page is… oranger?
They are next to a volcano
Tess’s lightening powers still mystify me but her ability to read others is very clear here. Alinua’s looks very worried but who is going tell Dainix that they know he’s still in there? I don’t know if that trope used multiple callers before (though it might have) but I know that may go counter to some people’s expectations. I wonder what Kendal might say to calm Alinua?
Every time Tess speaks I love her more.
Obligatory and everytime we kiss I swear I could fly
Has any mode of transportation lasted more than 2/3rds of a journey with these people?
Now that Erin and Tess have moved to land, I would like to voice a concern:
I’m worried Tess is going to get hurt by Erin’s Void.
Not right now necessarily, but later on, maybe arcs later. She’s the only party member who doesn’t have any defenses against it (assuming Falst’s light powers can protect him) and has the closest emotional connection to Erin. It’s very easy for me to envision a point in Erin’s possession where he’s losing it to VD’s influence, maybe he’s been testing his Void powers, and he has a wake-up call in the form of hurting Tess when she tries to help him.
I hope this doesn’t happen (because it’s Tess and she’s awesome) but I think it would be interesting.
Thoughts?
I’m shipping very hard right now, and I just want the world to know. No pun intended.
Also… very ominous looking mountain.
Ahahahaha omg Tess ships it!
As one ship sinks…another rises to take its place…
very funny to me that tess is perfectly ok with letting falst die if its in the name of love
You want shippers?
Because that’s how you get shippers.
Considering Tess’s reaction it makes me wonder if she’s done something similar in her past to what Falst is doing here.
Tess: Ohhh, I see what’s going on. Go save your man
When Gaslight Gatekeep Girlboss meets Manipulate Mansplain Malewife
LEEEROY JEEENKINS