I’ve been thinking about that “sealing cuff”. it has to have limits (I can’t imagine it working on a fully powered god), so what are those limits? If it can be simply overpowered, I suspect there are consequences. Basically it would explode. Probably not a good idea, and I wonder if Tess knows she can do it as a last resort.
The less dangerous emergency removal method seems to me to find a hard enough, heavy enough object/structure for Tess to smash with her wrist. The question is, what is strong enough to break the cuff instead of being broken? Because Tess is stupid strong, I can’t imagine she can’t break it if she can find the right thing to break it against.
So Tess was not sparked but instead chosen by the sky? Or maybe being chosen like that is similar to being sparked? (still waiting to be sparked myself lol)
Yes it does, but generally being hit by lightning is bad, yes?
So, maybe Galen knew about this and thought that she’d be Unsparked due to previous experience and figured at least he could make sure she was treated well?
Aaahaahaahaaha Thunder! Thunder!
Also since lightning is technically a spark, the unsparked should be ordered to just stand around whenever there’s a thunderstorm. Or you could go traditional and use a flint and steel or two rocks if you’re too cheap
I hope this isn’t the thing that Erin feels guilty about because as much as it sucks, it’s not something a small child should have been expected to deal with. I’m curious what other people have as their sparks though! And I really want to see Erin and Tess be siblingy, I hope we get that dynamic between them
The Sky: Tessachu! I choose you! (Hurls Electro Ball)
Oh man, Falst is not happy. I have a feeling that’s more towards Aeran society and Erin’s dad than Erin himself, though I’m not certain. His mood and opinions might or might not improve as Tess continues her exposition.
Ah confusion, the basic status of a flood gang member. Though given Alinua’s upbringing it’s not surprising at all she’s never heard of this. The different heroes with different background knowledges makes exposition like this feel natural in the story.
I don’t want to immediately jump on a “Lightning primordial doing this to find a vessel” theory I’ve been silently formulating. But at the same time I can’t help but notice those markings on the final panel are very lightning rune-esque.
Next weeks prediction: More exposition from Tess and a 50/50 chance at either Erin or the hunters finding them first. Maybe more 30/70 chance leaning towards the hunters, there are more of them, know the city and have a sniffer cow.
Chosen by the Sky? Does that mean chosen by Primordial Lightning? Assuming other primordials are alive, and i’m not sure if we’re still on that theory.
“Okay, so this child hasn’t gotten her spark yet, which means there’s nothing she wants to do in life. However, she can also get chosen by the sky, which seems to involve a lot of lightning. So the best choice is to use her as a lightning rod!”
People just knowing who they are and what they want? Now I know this is fantasy, I haven’t been able to figure those things out since the day I was born. People knowing themselves isn’t real, right?
TL;DR: Let me tell you how I got those lightning scars, see my people have a weird quirk of not having any drive until puberty but if we don’t get one then we can still avoid a pointless life by getting struck by lighting… Guys…?
Oh, so she was without a will of her own, hence she was… Huh, okay, that’s interesting. So I’m guessing she was bought and sold because being without a free will of her own meant she wasn’t able to object to it in any way. That’s still kinda fucked up, but like, weird twist.
Okay, I knew Falst would be pissed. He’s a not going to let Erin live this one down. His head is turned away when Alinua asks for clarification, which of course could just be a factor of making sure they aren’t being followed, but I don’t think he’s really hearing anything past “Erin’s family owned/owns slaves”, and I don’t think he’s going to have the most pleasant reaction the next time we see Erin. Which I hope is soon because I’m squirming for the Ruunaser dynamic to be established.
This is a fantasy race trait I haven’t seen before. It has me wondering about parenting, child education and adolescence among the metal caste. In a society where all the children are well-behaved and obedient, but also bereft of natural drive, interest and enthusiasm, I can only assume that customs of child care and teaching would have evolved that would be quite strange at first glance.
Oh and this is probably irrelevant, but I was reading through Erin’s introduction again last night—the nickname SickTats McHubris better be revived at some point—but Erin entered the Storm through the lightning section. Logically it makes sense, given that the landscape is fairly simple to navigate if, you know, the slight problem of thousands of lightning strikes can be controlled, but I wonder if he’s partial towards lightning because of Tess? Maybe they trained together extensively with that element?
Tess just looks so blase about being bought and sold like a pet as a child. Like it’s the sort of trauma associated with visiting your boring great aunt as she drones on about some old person hobby you’re not interested in rather than being enslaved.
It almost sounds like Metal Caste people are quasi organic robots.
Finally, the Tumblr deep lore is being explained in the story itself.
Vocabulary Man:
This begs a very important question: if she unleashes a powerful burst of lightning magic, can she decapitate a dragon?
Evil Tree and veggiesnake:
While I personally don’t think (yet) that the other primordials are alive, as Life being reawakened by the first invocation of her true name seems to be a unique circumstance (she’s the embodiment of life itself, of course she’d be the hardest to kill), we have by now seen conditions in other people that are at least remotely similar to the Chimeric Plague, in that other primordials (or their dead souls) are choosing mortals at random to house grand elemental powers: Demons with Fire, Stormbreakers with Lightning. So I guess it could go either way. (Interesting that this only seems to happen with the energy elements, as Wind, Water, and Stone don’t seem to have been doing anything similar; Red hasn’t even mentioned it in the deep lore.)
Dunno if anybody has already mentioned this, but on the chapter cover, Dainix has the same lightning marks(?) as Tess in the last panel. Coincidence or not?
Falst here is literally what the comment section was saying on Wednesday.
Okay, now I understand the Stormbreaker thing. I was a little confused about the whole thing but I heard about it in the comments before. I guess that means that my theory Erin accidentally gave Tess lightning powers is out the window… Just like Tess’ slavery, which means I can enjoy my Ruunaser siblings without worrying about the slavery thing too much. I think I might be putting precedence on the wrong thing… I’m glad that Tess isn’t enslaved anymore at least.
Does this mean that Tess was unsparked before she got struck by lightning? Possibly, I suppose. Maybe the slavers do something to the children they procure to make sure they remain unsparked and do whatever they’re told. Seems like a sustainable business model no matter how awful that would be. I wonder what this sort of thing is like normally- metal-caste children probably have to be taken care of by their parents until they actually develop a personality.
Finally, I’m going to place my predictions about the next part of Tess’ backstory. I bet that after she got lightning maged she got a huge status boost and became more of a Ruunaser family member rather than just “the slave kid Galen bought because he doubted his son’s ability to make friends”. That could also just be me being mildly obsessed with the Ruunaser siblings idea. I wonder if she got to go to the Mage Academy, since she is definitely well trained in her lightning powers. Or maybe Erin taught her! That would be adorable.
I would like to say that I think that this whole Tess situation might be what Erin was being guilted by his conscience in his dream last chapter. Red implied it on her Tumblr, which makes me very interested in how Erin feels about everything. Guilty, probably, but it also seems like he cares for Tess based on his reaction to hearing her voice on Alinua’s message. Still eagerly awaiting for Erin/Tess interactions…
To Evil Tree, veggiesnake, TheUnknownGame and all the others about Tess being Lightning’s vessel:
I checked just now and the runes on Tess’s body in the last panel, they’re pretty mutch Lightning version of those on Alinua in 1.3.28. But I’m a bit confused with “Demons” being Fire’s version, because that would fit in quite nicely (most are extremaly unstable, but as we see Danix is not) but isn’t Danix supposed to be Caliban’s champion? Unless he’s both their champion and Fire’s vessel. And as I lack info on “Stormbreakers” you guys talk about, but it seems that there’s no being unstable thing, so… Well there’s are holes in my theory rundown, and I would be very happy if someone better informed filled them. But hey, if it’s true then now we have four out of six Primordials’ vessels in the Floof Squad, with only Kendal and falst being not primordial-related characters.
based on how it says “unless you’re chosen by the sky” I would say shes not lightnings vessel, because the way she says this it seems like something that has happened to many people. My guess is life and V.D. (and maybe L.D.) are the only living primordials, Dainix is just a demon, and Tess in just a stormbreaker.
Hmm, a species that only develops free will later in life… I wonder what VD thinks of that. I don’t think it’s possible because they’re adapted humans, not unadapted, but if one of them was an Elemental Magus, that could be really, really, really bad.
So, children of the metal caste essentially can’t take care of themselves or plan ahead for their needs, and are in danger of dying if nobody is around to tell them what to do to avoid that. That would be the parents’ job, which would end at an age when they are ready to become adults. If someone remained unsparked into adulthood, someone would have to take responsibility for keeping them alive. Presumably, an unsparked adult can do useful tasks and thus has some value, so having someone take possession and responsibility of the unsparked would be a sensible solution. As opposed to just abandoning them, or warehousing them.
Being “chosen by the sky” would only apply to those who survive being chosen by the sky. The metal-caste probably is unwilling to sacrifice anyone in the hopes that a few will be “fixed”.
Dainix Simp:
Yeah, that’s what I think as well; however, I have been proven wrong before. A while back, I had a couple theories about The Collector: one being that her knives were infused with void magic, as void deals with consumption and the knives were essentially consuming souls, but it turned out it was a combination of name magic (non-elemental in nature) and soulcrystal tools, as she stated in chapter 11; the other theory I had was that she was the previous elemental magus, due to a couple stated timeframes lining up, but I now know she is in fact just a life mage, albeit an incredibly extraordinary one.
Sorry for the tangent; my point is that no theorist is infallible.
To Asquared: Tess is human, she’s just a elementaly adapted human. Many groups have strange and unique features like the ignans strange markings or the glass folks Lazer powers, the metal-castes “spark” is just a particularly weird feature.
Wild theory time:
1 the storm breakers are a joint effort between earth and lightning, they’re not quite vessels but they are pawns of a sort, the wanderlust Stormbreakers experience causes them to travel the world (and maybe act as eyes and ears for the primordials) and they are also powerful enough to take on anything they need.
2 Tess doesn’t have a good relationship with Erin’s dad, but it’s kind of mellow, he’ll be frigidly polite to her, she’ll cheerfully refer to him as a morally bankrupt dirt bag but it will never dissolve into an argument.
@CaptainCutlet unless the only reason why Dainix isn’t unstable is that he doesn’t use his powers so that he cannot lose control, hence he is more than able to break out of the prison, but chooses not to. this is much like how Alinua behaved before she met Kendal and figuratively/literally/spiritually exploded
what if erin’s dad thought that erin could give tess a soul but she would retrospectively rather otherwise (she says that galen probably thought he was doing her a favor & she discribes pre-spark as a peaceful, simple exixtence)
Okay, so I don’t have much to add to this.
But the images here are amazing, honestly.
Also, the idea of being sparked combined with ‘chosen by the sky’ implies that these people are closely tied with the Lightning element, like, it isn’t just a random chance that Tess is lightning, and her people either A: can only have lightning magic if they have any, or B: are much more likely to have lightning.
Also, it’s possible that being chosen by the sky as she calls it is the only way for their people to get magic.
This would have some weird effects like you could say that metal-caste people are both magically inert and have an overabundance of stone-based magic at the same time.
Annnyyywayyy…
@Dainix Simp
Yeah, I would agree she isn’t actually Lightning’s vessel, but I also don’t think ‘just’ a stormbreaker is the right description. Like, there’s an easy parallel between being chosen by the sky and when Ali became life’s vessel, so there’s some sort of primordial power going on here, even if Lightning isn’t fully awake.
Something else that argues in favor of this theory is that, we can’t forget, being chosen is basically like getting a personality, and giving personality is a weird feature for normal lightning magic to give, even to a lightning-oriented species. Primordials are basically the only thing that’s purely magic and also has personality, so there’s that.
So my theory is basically that being chosen by the sky is like being blessed by the Lightning primordial, and also if you survive, you (maybe) are able to do lightning magic.
Now Falst is still the only one who hasn’t been chosen for some prophecy shenanigans… yet. (Still love the dissonance between all the grand magical nonsense going on with Kendal, Alinva, Erin, Tess and presumably Dainix, and Falst’s character boi just says he ‘stole Erin’s bag.’)
This page hits like an emotional ton of bricks for some reason. Like, Tess seems fine; she seems capable, resilient— not unaffected, but alive in spite of adversity. Still though, the art is evocative as hell. I just,,, yeah.
And honestly, if this is what Erin’s feelin guilty about, I can’t necessarily say that’s unwarranted. Sure, a kid who was merely present for his parent’s wrongdoing is not responsible for the sins of the father. But guilt isn’t necessarily about being *personally* responsible. It can be a positive emotion that drives a person towards being better, enacting change. It could also mean he’s striking off on his own without help because he wants to be somewhat independent of the advantages given to him by his status (though, I guess we’ve seen him do things contrary to that as well). It’s a complex emotion, though, and I can’t wait to learn more about his backstory and stuff.
I know I’m by far not the only one to have this thought, but I express it anyway:
the Fluff Squad seems to collect quite an assortment of Primordial vessels. There’s Alinua (Life) and Erin (Void), obviously, and I suspect Dainix got chosen by Fire which would make sense for an Ignan, and the “Demon” thing seems to be another pointer, and “chosen by lightning” would seem to be theprocess for Lightning (granted both Dainix and Tess join the Fluff Squad permanently that is). So there’s only Water, Wind and Stone whom we’ve not seen yet (presumably). Who would’ve thought, (with Kendal being Kendal) that Falst is the most ordinary guy of them all.
As for the Spark Thing, sounds like the Light Dragon doing her work. I look forward to learn why this is different for metal caste humans, and how Void Dragon plays into all of this.
Maybe he made the twins make them first?
I just realized: in panel 3, the visualization of the Spark is very similar in color to The Light Dragon, which makes sense, because she’s the one who granted mortals free will and a sense of self in the first place. I like finding neat little details like that!
Was I several days late again? Is Tess perfectly describing exactly how I feel about my life right now? Will getting struck by lightning solve all of my problems? How old was Tess when she was “chosen by the sky”? Is Fast doing exactly what everyone else was last page? Did he stop listening as soon as the topic of slavery was brought up? Was Tess’ first desire after gaining her spark a strong craving for Asera and Wys Root Beer?
My only question is, in aurora the humans adapted(evolved) to fit their new envoirment. What kind of situation would have caused the metal-caste to evolve from their origina human forms to their current state?What kind of conditions did they live n to make them evolve to not have free will for a portion of their lives? Is it a defense mechanism? am I looking to deeply into this?
Great, so if slavers inflict traumatic abuse on their metal-caste slaves, they become even more obedient. I’m sure the slavers never exploited this fact
I do hope in the future the squad takes out the slavers
Falst in the first panel is such a mood
It’s official now. Tess is a Stormbreaker, just like all the lore nerds predicted.
Well, I see what Erin could have to feel guilty about!
That’s a cool idea, having a culture that lets you look at free will “from the outside” via people for whom not having it is a normal stage of life.
So erin’s dad thought that a traumatized unspakred girl would be fun good “play mate”?
(I’m assuming Tess is saying this happened to her.)
No way, I’m so shocked! -_-
Oh, Tess. Found your theme song.
HammerFall – Crimson Thunder
“We are the voices in the dark
Inside the fire we are the
Eternal Spark that will guide the way
We are the stars up in sky
We gather winds so you can fly
We are the light when you’re sleeping
All your dreams can come true
“Where do we go?”
We’re just a heartbeat away
Follow the signs of the Crimson Thunder
We will stay by your side
Let our voices be there to guide you
We are forces in the rain
Inside your heart we are the
unending answer to all your fears
So take a step towards the light
The crimson sky fulfills the night
The revelation is near”
I’ve been thinking about that “sealing cuff”. it has to have limits (I can’t imagine it working on a fully powered god), so what are those limits? If it can be simply overpowered, I suspect there are consequences. Basically it would explode. Probably not a good idea, and I wonder if Tess knows she can do it as a last resort.
The less dangerous emergency removal method seems to me to find a hard enough, heavy enough object/structure for Tess to smash with her wrist. The question is, what is strong enough to break the cuff instead of being broken? Because Tess is stupid strong, I can’t imagine she can’t break it if she can find the right thing to break it against.
@ImuyanMangoCat Falst is always such a mood xD
So Tess was not sparked but instead chosen by the sky? Or maybe being chosen like that is similar to being sparked? (still waiting to be sparked myself lol)
Oh boy I have so many quastion alongside an urge to beat the shit out of Erin’s dad.
“Looks festive”
Yes it does, but generally being hit by lightning is bad, yes?
So, maybe Galen knew about this and thought that she’d be Unsparked due to previous experience and figured at least he could make sure she was treated well?
Will someone tell me the alt text please?
conductivity
So what was Tess’s traumatic event?
This page’s image address is: Chosen
Aaahaahaahaaha Thunder! Thunder!
Also since lightning is technically a spark, the unsparked should be ordered to just stand around whenever there’s a thunderstorm. Or you could go traditional and use a flint and steel or two rocks if you’re too cheap
Hi confused, I’m dad!
…Anyways, here’s some info
About metal-caste.
I hope this isn’t the thing that Erin feels guilty about because as much as it sucks, it’s not something a small child should have been expected to deal with. I’m curious what other people have as their sparks though! And I really want to see Erin and Tess be siblingy, I hope we get that dynamic between them
The Sky: Tessachu! I choose you! (Hurls Electro Ball)
Oh man, Falst is not happy. I have a feeling that’s more towards Aeran society and Erin’s dad than Erin himself, though I’m not certain. His mood and opinions might or might not improve as Tess continues her exposition.
Ah confusion, the basic status of a flood gang member. Though given Alinua’s upbringing it’s not surprising at all she’s never heard of this. The different heroes with different background knowledges makes exposition like this feel natural in the story.
I don’t want to immediately jump on a “Lightning primordial doing this to find a vessel” theory I’ve been silently formulating. But at the same time I can’t help but notice those markings on the final panel are very lightning rune-esque.
Next weeks prediction: More exposition from Tess and a 50/50 chance at either Erin or the hunters finding them first. Maybe more 30/70 chance leaning towards the hunters, there are more of them, know the city and have a sniffer cow.
Chosen by the Sky? Does that mean chosen by Primordial Lightning? Assuming other primordials are alive, and i’m not sure if we’re still on that theory.
my inner transformers fan is giggling at the spark talk
“knowing who they are and what they want” can’t relate
Oh my god Tess is like a charged creeper from Minecraft
I’ve read all the lore but somehow only made this connection about twenty seconds ago
Guys this is huge, this is massive. This is gamebreaking. Tess is a charged creeper.
“Okay, so this child hasn’t gotten her spark yet, which means there’s nothing she wants to do in life. However, she can also get chosen by the sky, which seems to involve a lot of lightning. So the best choice is to use her as a lightning rod!”
oooo interesting…
People just knowing who they are and what they want? Now I know this is fantasy, I haven’t been able to figure those things out since the day I was born. People knowing themselves isn’t real, right?
TL;DR: Let me tell you how I got those lightning scars, see my people have a weird quirk of not having any drive until puberty but if we don’t get one then we can still avoid a pointless life by getting struck by lighting… Guys…?
Oh, so she was without a will of her own, hence she was… Huh, okay, that’s interesting. So I’m guessing she was bought and sold because being without a free will of her own meant she wasn’t able to object to it in any way. That’s still kinda fucked up, but like, weird twist.
Okay, I knew Falst would be pissed. He’s a not going to let Erin live this one down. His head is turned away when Alinua asks for clarification, which of course could just be a factor of making sure they aren’t being followed, but I don’t think he’s really hearing anything past “Erin’s family owned/owns slaves”, and I don’t think he’s going to have the most pleasant reaction the next time we see Erin. Which I hope is soon because I’m squirming for the Ruunaser dynamic to be established.
Love the depiction of the little inner spark. 🙂
This is a fantasy race trait I haven’t seen before. It has me wondering about parenting, child education and adolescence among the metal caste. In a society where all the children are well-behaved and obedient, but also bereft of natural drive, interest and enthusiasm, I can only assume that customs of child care and teaching would have evolved that would be quite strange at first glance.
Wonderful Tessachu is so calm and upbeat while saying this. I can’t wait to see her and Erin’s dynamic!
Oh and this is probably irrelevant, but I was reading through Erin’s introduction again last night—the nickname SickTats McHubris better be revived at some point—but Erin entered the Storm through the lightning section. Logically it makes sense, given that the landscape is fairly simple to navigate if, you know, the slight problem of thousands of lightning strikes can be controlled, but I wonder if he’s partial towards lightning because of Tess? Maybe they trained together extensively with that element?
Tess just looks so blase about being bought and sold like a pet as a child. Like it’s the sort of trauma associated with visiting your boring great aunt as she drones on about some old person hobby you’re not interested in rather than being enslaved.
It almost sounds like Metal Caste people are quasi organic robots.
alt text: looks festive!
the 5 man band is complete… oops! ALL POWERHOUSES (except Falst, poor guy)
Finally, the Tumblr deep lore is being explained in the story itself.
Vocabulary Man:
This begs a very important question: if she unleashes a powerful burst of lightning magic, can she decapitate a dragon?
Evil Tree and veggiesnake:
While I personally don’t think (yet) that the other primordials are alive, as Life being reawakened by the first invocation of her true name seems to be a unique circumstance (she’s the embodiment of life itself, of course she’d be the hardest to kill), we have by now seen conditions in other people that are at least remotely similar to the Chimeric Plague, in that other primordials (or their dead souls) are choosing mortals at random to house grand elemental powers: Demons with Fire, Stormbreakers with Lightning. So I guess it could go either way. (Interesting that this only seems to happen with the energy elements, as Wind, Water, and Stone don’t seem to have been doing anything similar; Red hasn’t even mentioned it in the deep lore.)
Wait, is Tess not human?
@Evil Tree
Well, my idea is that Erin was following the birb he sent. But the hunters do have a better chance of finding them.
Dunno if anybody has already mentioned this, but on the chapter cover, Dainix has the same lightning marks(?) as Tess in the last panel. Coincidence or not?
Falst here is literally what the comment section was saying on Wednesday.
Okay, now I understand the Stormbreaker thing. I was a little confused about the whole thing but I heard about it in the comments before. I guess that means that my theory Erin accidentally gave Tess lightning powers is out the window… Just like Tess’ slavery, which means I can enjoy my Ruunaser siblings without worrying about the slavery thing too much. I think I might be putting precedence on the wrong thing… I’m glad that Tess isn’t enslaved anymore at least.
Does this mean that Tess was unsparked before she got struck by lightning? Possibly, I suppose. Maybe the slavers do something to the children they procure to make sure they remain unsparked and do whatever they’re told. Seems like a sustainable business model no matter how awful that would be. I wonder what this sort of thing is like normally- metal-caste children probably have to be taken care of by their parents until they actually develop a personality.
Finally, I’m going to place my predictions about the next part of Tess’ backstory. I bet that after she got lightning maged she got a huge status boost and became more of a Ruunaser family member rather than just “the slave kid Galen bought because he doubted his son’s ability to make friends”. That could also just be me being mildly obsessed with the Ruunaser siblings idea. I wonder if she got to go to the Mage Academy, since she is definitely well trained in her lightning powers. Or maybe Erin taught her! That would be adorable.
I would like to say that I think that this whole Tess situation might be what Erin was being guilted by his conscience in his dream last chapter. Red implied it on her Tumblr, which makes me very interested in how Erin feels about everything. Guilty, probably, but it also seems like he cares for Tess based on his reaction to hearing her voice on Alinua’s message. Still eagerly awaiting for Erin/Tess interactions…
To Evil Tree, veggiesnake, TheUnknownGame and all the others about Tess being Lightning’s vessel:
I checked just now and the runes on Tess’s body in the last panel, they’re pretty mutch Lightning version of those on Alinua in 1.3.28. But I’m a bit confused with “Demons” being Fire’s version, because that would fit in quite nicely (most are extremaly unstable, but as we see Danix is not) but isn’t Danix supposed to be Caliban’s champion? Unless he’s both their champion and Fire’s vessel. And as I lack info on “Stormbreakers” you guys talk about, but it seems that there’s no being unstable thing, so… Well there’s are holes in my theory rundown, and I would be very happy if someone better informed filled them. But hey, if it’s true then now we have four out of six Primordials’ vessels in the Floof Squad, with only Kendal and falst being not primordial-related characters.
based on how it says “unless you’re chosen by the sky” I would say shes not lightnings vessel, because the way she says this it seems like something that has happened to many people. My guess is life and V.D. (and maybe L.D.) are the only living primordials, Dainix is just a demon, and Tess in just a stormbreaker.
Hmm, which joke should I make? “SHAZAM!” or “BY THE POWER OF GREYSKULL?”
Hmm, a species that only develops free will later in life… I wonder what VD thinks of that. I don’t think it’s possible because they’re adapted humans, not unadapted, but if one of them was an Elemental Magus, that could be really, really, really bad.
So, children of the metal caste essentially can’t take care of themselves or plan ahead for their needs, and are in danger of dying if nobody is around to tell them what to do to avoid that. That would be the parents’ job, which would end at an age when they are ready to become adults. If someone remained unsparked into adulthood, someone would have to take responsibility for keeping them alive. Presumably, an unsparked adult can do useful tasks and thus has some value, so having someone take possession and responsibility of the unsparked would be a sensible solution. As opposed to just abandoning them, or warehousing them.
Being “chosen by the sky” would only apply to those who survive being chosen by the sky. The metal-caste probably is unwilling to sacrifice anyone in the hopes that a few will be “fixed”.
Dainix Simp:
Yeah, that’s what I think as well; however, I have been proven wrong before. A while back, I had a couple theories about The Collector: one being that her knives were infused with void magic, as void deals with consumption and the knives were essentially consuming souls, but it turned out it was a combination of name magic (non-elemental in nature) and soulcrystal tools, as she stated in chapter 11; the other theory I had was that she was the previous elemental magus, due to a couple stated timeframes lining up, but I now know she is in fact just a life mage, albeit an incredibly extraordinary one.
Sorry for the tangent; my point is that no theorist is infallible.
To Asquared: Tess is human, she’s just a elementaly adapted human. Many groups have strange and unique features like the ignans strange markings or the glass folks Lazer powers, the metal-castes “spark” is just a particularly weird feature.
Wild theory time:
1 the storm breakers are a joint effort between earth and lightning, they’re not quite vessels but they are pawns of a sort, the wanderlust Stormbreakers experience causes them to travel the world (and maybe act as eyes and ears for the primordials) and they are also powerful enough to take on anything they need.
2 Tess doesn’t have a good relationship with Erin’s dad, but it’s kind of mellow, he’ll be frigidly polite to her, she’ll cheerfully refer to him as a morally bankrupt dirt bag but it will never dissolve into an argument.
@CaptainCutlet unless the only reason why Dainix isn’t unstable is that he doesn’t use his powers so that he cannot lose control, hence he is more than able to break out of the prison, but chooses not to. this is much like how Alinua behaved before she met Kendal and figuratively/literally/spiritually exploded
what if erin’s dad thought that erin could give tess a soul but she would retrospectively rather otherwise (she says that galen probably thought he was doing her a favor & she discribes pre-spark as a peaceful, simple exixtence)
1.21 Gigawatts of Inspiration!!
Okay, so I don’t have much to add to this.
But the images here are amazing, honestly.
Also, the idea of being sparked combined with ‘chosen by the sky’ implies that these people are closely tied with the Lightning element, like, it isn’t just a random chance that Tess is lightning, and her people either A: can only have lightning magic if they have any, or B: are much more likely to have lightning.
Also, it’s possible that being chosen by the sky as she calls it is the only way for their people to get magic.
This would have some weird effects like you could say that metal-caste people are both magically inert and have an overabundance of stone-based magic at the same time.
Annnyyywayyy…
@Dainix Simp
Yeah, I would agree she isn’t actually Lightning’s vessel, but I also don’t think ‘just’ a stormbreaker is the right description. Like, there’s an easy parallel between being chosen by the sky and when Ali became life’s vessel, so there’s some sort of primordial power going on here, even if Lightning isn’t fully awake.
Something else that argues in favor of this theory is that, we can’t forget, being chosen is basically like getting a personality, and giving personality is a weird feature for normal lightning magic to give, even to a lightning-oriented species. Primordials are basically the only thing that’s purely magic and also has personality, so there’s that.
So my theory is basically that being chosen by the sky is like being blessed by the Lightning primordial, and also if you survive, you (maybe) are able to do lightning magic.
okay it’s official, i love Tess
@Clifford’s A Kaiju todays alt-text is, “looks festive!”
@Evan I was thinking more in of:
“AND THEN ALONG CAME ZEUS! HE HURRRRLED HIS THUNDERB-“
So, she used to be like a house elf or a pokeballed pokemon? Or something much simpler?
I wonder to what extent the metal caste’s lack of self preservation went? At least they seem to get better after puberty. Most of them, at least.
Now Falst is still the only one who hasn’t been chosen for some prophecy shenanigans… yet. (Still love the dissonance between all the grand magical nonsense going on with Kendal, Alinva, Erin, Tess and presumably Dainix, and Falst’s character boi just says he ‘stole Erin’s bag.’)
This page hits like an emotional ton of bricks for some reason. Like, Tess seems fine; she seems capable, resilient— not unaffected, but alive in spite of adversity. Still though, the art is evocative as hell. I just,,, yeah.
And honestly, if this is what Erin’s feelin guilty about, I can’t necessarily say that’s unwarranted. Sure, a kid who was merely present for his parent’s wrongdoing is not responsible for the sins of the father. But guilt isn’t necessarily about being *personally* responsible. It can be a positive emotion that drives a person towards being better, enacting change. It could also mean he’s striking off on his own without help because he wants to be somewhat independent of the advantages given to him by his status (though, I guess we’ve seen him do things contrary to that as well). It’s a complex emotion, though, and I can’t wait to learn more about his backstory and stuff.
@Fay
I think “AND THEN ALONG CAME ZEUS” fits better
Hello, usual lurker here
I know I’m by far not the only one to have this thought, but I express it anyway:
the Fluff Squad seems to collect quite an assortment of Primordial vessels. There’s Alinua (Life) and Erin (Void), obviously, and I suspect Dainix got chosen by Fire which would make sense for an Ignan, and the “Demon” thing seems to be another pointer, and “chosen by lightning” would seem to be theprocess for Lightning (granted both Dainix and Tess join the Fluff Squad permanently that is). So there’s only Water, Wind and Stone whom we’ve not seen yet (presumably). Who would’ve thought, (with Kendal being Kendal) that Falst is the most ordinary guy of them all.
As for the Spark Thing, sounds like the Light Dragon doing her work. I look forward to learn why this is different for metal caste humans, and how Void Dragon plays into all of this.
Maybe he made the twins make them first?
Very intriguing stuff indeed.
I imagine that even as Tess is going through all this, she’s talking like someone who’s smiling, and just happy with life
*the sky. chosen by the sky.
I just realized: in panel 3, the visualization of the Spark is very similar in color to The Light Dragon, which makes sense, because she’s the one who granted mortals free will and a sense of self in the first place. I like finding neat little details like that!
It’s past 4pm (the time the comic updates for me) I keep reloading the site but there’s no new page
Was I several days late again? Is Tess perfectly describing exactly how I feel about my life right now? Will getting struck by lightning solve all of my problems? How old was Tess when she was “chosen by the sky”? Is Fast doing exactly what everyone else was last page? Did he stop listening as soon as the topic of slavery was brought up? Was Tess’ first desire after gaining her spark a strong craving for Asera and Wys Root Beer?
Tune in Next Week and Find Out!
My only question is, in aurora the humans adapted(evolved) to fit their new envoirment. What kind of situation would have caused the metal-caste to evolve from their origina human forms to their current state?What kind of conditions did they live n to make them evolve to not have free will for a portion of their lives? Is it a defense mechanism? am I looking to deeply into this?
How dare you describe my childhood so accurately. finding a spark is honestly a great way to put it.
Great, so if slavers inflict traumatic abuse on their metal-caste slaves, they become even more obedient. I’m sure the slavers never exploited this fact
I do hope in the future the squad takes out the slavers