1.16.14
on March 16, 2022
at 3:00 am
good thing Life knows pulling out a deus ex machina is generally considered gauche in literary circles
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
good thing Life knows pulling out a deus ex machina is generally considered gauche in literary circles
Uh oh life mum doesnt like ur plan, i love powerful Alinua tho
or maybe she just wants her to do it herself.
I’m incredibly pleased with the amount of glowy stuff on this page. 10/10.
Life : NO
Life : we are not doing this heroic sacrifice, I am letting those people die
can’t decide whether I hate life(as in the character) right now or not.
The water pours in.
She needs Life to help save them!
But Life just says… no?
I’m going to assume Life has a better plan or something.
I’m gonna guess it’s a “No, I’m not going to use you, the power was inside you all along” kinda thing.
Calling it now so I can gloat when I’m right 😀
Oh, 100%
“I’m sorry Alinua, but there are no main characters in there”
DAMN YOU PLANT GODDESS, THE ONE FREAKEN TIME YOU DECIDE NOT TO DO ANYTHING!
i think this is being misinterpreted, i’m predicting next page it turns out to be:
“I’m yours, right? You can save them! Just use me!”
“NO. YOU ARE NOT MINE. AND YOU /ARE/ STRONG ENOUGH TO SAVE THEM.”
I think Life doesn’t want another Collector
Oh shit, Life said no. How is Alinua gonna recover from this?
Alinua: Use me! I belong to you! Take control and dictate my actions like a puppet!
Life: ENOUGH! THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GET THE WRONG IDEA ABOUT ME!
Ok, this is getting super interesting in a way I wasn’t expecting. Alinua hasn’t had a proper conversation, or even interaction, with Life; just a few occasions where Life says a single word very dramatically. A talk between the two needed to happen, but it’s just their luck it’s happening in the middle of a storm with guards incoming.
Oh and Falst holding off the guards solo with one in a headlock is pretty cool too. Falst can really carry this team when push comes to shove.
Now I can think of three possibilities for why Life is refusing to take control:
1. She doesn’t care about the people inside the prison and doesn’t want to user her power to save them.
2. This is a “believe in yourself” moment as she tries to help booster Alinua’s agency; her crying to be used by Life, seeing herself as just her vessel, is not a good outlook to have.
3. Life has a better idea, or a different angle, that would be more effective than what Alinua is doing.
I personally hope it’s 2; would also fit with an overarching theme about agency, freedom and sense of self that’s been running while in Zuurith. 3 would be good too, and while I hope it’s not 1 I don’t rule it out; Life’s exact movies and principals are still rather nebulous. Then again Life could be saying no for another reason entirely.
Alinua’s crisis aside, themes like “people evacuating from a city that’s getting destroyed” feel a lot more familiar nowadays sadly… Let’s take a moment to think about that.
@Evil Tree I’m hoping it’s 2 as well.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one hoping Life has a very good reason to reject Aliua’s offer, but if that’s not the case at least it might clarify the contradictory message the Collector got.
No. YOU use ME.
“sorry alinua, but i do have to maintain a certain aura of toughness”
Based on panel four, currently Alinua is just making things worse. The gaps are letting more water in then would have leaked in otherwise.
Not gonna make any assumptions yet, just gonna watch Falst headlocking guards in the background. xD
TL;DR: sorry pal, god’s not interested.
Oooo the momentary shock! Can’t wait for this to get followed up
@Fantasy Snakes: I think those gaps are the windows. Her plan is to grow the plant into the windows and them make it bigger and bigger until it breaks the stone.
That awkward moment when your magic god parent won’t let you off yourself for a noble cause?
Alinua: It’s like she doesn’t even care that i need to throw myself away at every opportunity on the off chance it does something good for someone else!
Kendal: That’s what i’m saying!
Dainix: Gods tell me about it… more Tea?
I don’t think this is actually Life approving of the prisons, it’s more like Life saying, ‘kid, you have to fight your own battles’ Though it wouldn’t surprise me if Life doesn’t actually care about the prison except for its importance to Aliuna, because she/they are a deity of nature, so when there’s chimeras, they don’t like it, but normal injustice…. ehh, not worth the fight.
Hey everyone! I have a question. This comic divides its story arcs into chapters, of the FINISHED chapters, (this one doesn’t count because it’s not done.) which is your favorite.
Mine is sentinel. (Where they meet that giant stone guardian) Like, it’s not even close. At all. It resolves so perfectly and I just feel such relief for alinua and it’s absolutely fantastic.
Life is, ironically, not fond of saving lives.
Yeah, Yeah, the cotton candy elf is epic, but look at Falst! He’s blocking a spear and has some other guy in a headlock! (I think)
Oh, hello! We haven’t seen you since chapter 10!
Evil Tree:
For the most part, you took the words right out of my mouth; however, I also see a potential option 4 as to why Life doesn’t want to take control of Alinua now: Alinua may already be approaching her limit of safe casting power, and Life boosting that power further may make her lose control, as in end-stage Chimeric Plague lose control. This is, of course, entirely dependent on whether or not Alinua is still capable of that; her soul’s transformation is still pretty vague. We know that her control finally caught up with her default power, but what are the limits to that stability? Or, if there are no limits, and Alinua can no longer lose control, then this entire option would be rendered moot. (While options 3 and 4 could be interesting, I, too, hope it’s option 2.)
Archaleus:
I can’t decide between Nightmare (chapter 7) or Interstitial (chapter 11). They’re both packed front-to-back with lore, which makes my theorist and overanalyzer brain very happy. In chapter 7, we meet Lady Ilia and she has a nice conversation with Kendal, we meet The fucking Void Dragon as he gives us a history of this world, Erin gets to have his most badass moment yet (“I’M ALREADY DEAD!“), and to top it all off, we see a future noble antagonist in the form of The Light Dragon’s Champion. In chapter 11, we learn of The Collector’s power and her main goal, Erin actually comforts someone as he helps Alinua through her existential crisis, Falst grapples with internal insecurity, Tess punches another dragon, and the group has a nice conversation about powerful enemies, Life’s motivations, and daddy issues. They’re both just so good!
I was in the middle of typing something else out, when I realized this is the perfect opportunity for a FUTURIVIA! Here it is:
What is Primordial Life disagreeing with Alinua about?
A: “NO, YOU CAN DO THIS YOURSELF”?
B: “NO, THEY MUST DIE”?
C: “NO, IMMA CHILL”?
D: “NO, ATTACK TYNAN INSTEAD”?
(That last one gave me the idea of a cover for the song Redesign Your Logo by Lemon Demon where it’s Life trying to convince Alinua to attack Tynan called Redirect Your Efforts.)
@Humanoid Clay
I am betting on a variation of A.
“No, I will not use you. I will not let you sacrifice yourself. You have my power, so you can do it yourself.”
perhaps Life is afraid of shattering Alinua, like she shattered the Collector? Life only really took control of Alinua when the latter was unconcious, right? perhaps if she takes control of her mind while she’s conscious, or if she intervenes too much, Alinua might end up like the Collector. or maybe it is a matter of channeling too much magic; Alinua is still mortal, she must a limit somewhere
the Collector said that she “touched [Life’s] mind” but that might still be a danger to Alinua; she might have lightly grazed Life’s mind, but she doesn’t know the primordial’s thoughts and desires like the Collector claims to
also are those energy cracks in the prison wall, or in alinua’s soul again? probably the wall, but i can’t tell
@Humanoid Clay I hope that it’s A, but I think it’s B, so I’m going to guess B.
Though Alinua’s power glows.
The break is still too slow-
She begs for Life to aid her
But it says only, “NO.”
I’ll try not to post these so late in future.
@Humanoid Clay
B Death is a part of life, so Life won’t stop its own natural conclusion
Also B = Blood for the Blood God
alt text: gasp! johnny ten-eyes tacitly approves of the prison-industrial complex? booooo
ANother update? This soon? awsome
To Fantasy Snakes, Stark9865:
Yep, those look to be the windows. If anything, there might be slightly less water coming in now that there are vines there as well (not that it would really be a noticeable difference all things considering….)
It’ll be interesting to see where this goes come Friday. Because, yeah, I can see Life choosing not to intervene because this isn’t where/how she sees fit to step in, and for any number of reasons–the Primordials being what they are, it would not surprise me at all if Blue/Orange Morality was in play. And as some are pointing out, life is… Not inherently good. Nature is cruel, and selfish, and at it’s core concerned only with continuing its legacy through the next generation, the individual be damned. And while we’re taught that we’ve evolved beyond that and that life/growth= inherently good and death/decline=inherently bad and that there is no middle ground shared, that’s really not always the case. And the actions of our own species can attest to that.
That’s not to say that I agree with the decision, if Life is pushing for Alinua to abandon those trapped in the mountain. I too hope this is going to turn out to be a teaching moment about relying on one’s own strength, but I do understand why it might be if it turns out it isn’t. Life sees a far more vast picture than Alinua can–one that is shaded far more subtly when it comes to right and wrong, because life and death are complicated and messy and intertwined, and so much more is at stake here than it seems.
(And, of course, the viewpoint is so very different–how could the ant comprehend the human mind? How could man understand the limited perspective of the ant? Or so the anecdote goes…)
A teachable moment, Life? Well done.
Since the guards are still inside, perhaps Zuurith authorities doesn’t think the prison is in imminent danger of being destroyed by the flood? (or perhaps arenamaster simply doesn’t care about his own employees)
I’m not surprised. Life has shown no interest in Lives. Just those lives that matter to Her purpose. The white dragon is the one interested in individual souls.
Also, does breaking stone go against the power of the stone primordial and the healing that Life does? Alinua might need to think of another approach. Rather than brute force breaking stone, maybe she has to create ladders and … gosh, I don’t know, open escape hatches? Hmn.
P.S. Shortened my name from icarusancalion. Too much to type!
@Humanoid Clay I think it’s the hidden answer E: Life will not destroy stone to save individuals. Remember the Collector destroyed Vash through Healing the crater on stone’s surface that made up the city.
Switching over to my alternate fandom name Icarus in short order because typing icarusancalion on a phone is for the birds.
Humanoid Clay: i think E none of the above
Did you know…
The diving bell spider (Argyroneta aquatica) actually spends most its time underwater. It does this by using small hairs along its body and when it surfaces it catches air with those hairs, and then that air gets trapped by webbing that it uses. It’s web even seems to be able to diffuse the oxygen out of the water to be used by the spider. Would be very useful if you were sealed in and experiencing flooding I would say.
Stark9865:
Yeah those are definitely windows. No plant would make hole that are that geometric.
Humanoid Clay:
A would fit firmly within the concepts of agency these past couple of chapters were dealing with, although I would like to imagine C as its funny, but also it isn’t clear how easy it is for Life to possess Alinua. But A seems the most likely to me.
Archaleus:
Mine is Echos. It might not have been much, but also was a little bit everything at once. Funny banter, new lore was revealed, cool fight scenes, and it set up the next two chapters perfectly as well as clearly established Erin’s dynamics in the group.
@ Humanoid Clay Actually, looking at the answers again, what I think matches more with C. I think Life’s going to be like “pssh, I’m not using my power on saving some random people, I’m super important and stuff.”
@HumanoidClay
I’m thinking another option that you didn;y think of
E. No, that’s what drove the collector mad
Ah life, the bringer of death.
@The Lolest: agreed, and of course for continuing crises around the world that have been going on for years but aren’t on NATO’s doorstep
@Fantasy Snakes: I thought that at first too, but they’re square enough that I think they’re windows- look at the top corner of the one that is furthest away
@Humaniod Clay: I hope A
@lord: well it does update Mon-Wed-Fri
@WillCan’tSleep: fits in with Discworlds’ Death I guess
What’s worse about seeing that image of the prison- There are clearly guards in there too. The warden can justify prisoners not deserving saving all he wants, but how do you justify allowing your GUARDS to die, the people who (presumably) haven’t done anything wrong and are there to do their jobs?
(Note: This is not to start a debate on how innocent guards/employees are in an industrial prison system, holy shit that is not a conversation I am up for having today. This is purely about the Warden being a complete jerk.)
@Leonidas1754: agreed, let’s also not discuss how possible commentary on prison systems parallels to current events, though that is a valid thought.
Wait wait wait wait wait. What do you mean by no? I swear if she refuses to rescue them due to personal motives I will lose it! I want to like you life, you’re a badass primordial plant goddess but if you let a whole bunch of people die I wont be able to! Ugghhhh Friday can’t come soon enough!!! I need you two to COMMUNICATE! Life, you need to tell Ali your motives and help her with her self doubt ASAP!
Ate house, oh I hope so!!!
Evil Tree, Im hoping it’s two with maybe a hint of three in there…
The Lolest, unfortunately yes… it hits a little close to home based on what’s been going on in our world…
SerifStones, LMFAO YOU MADE MY WHOLE DAMN DAY!!!
TheUnknownGame, oh wow, really good point with the chimeric plague! Also remind me who in this comic DOESN’T have daddy issues??? I really want to meet them. Cos, in the bad parents rollcall, we have : Ali, whose first parents dumped her off a cliff nearly killing her, and her second parents she had to run away from in order to protect them, Kendal, whose only guardian figure is Vaash who is currently kidnapped, (And he’s technically not even a year old!) Erin, whose parents forced him up to terrifying standards making him a self centered ass who uses his power and isolates himself to put up a front to pretend he doesn’t care, Tess, whose original parents abandoned her and later parents who basically enslaved her, Falst, whose parents definitely don’t seem to care about him, Shrike who has no parents in sight, Dainix who was forced to leave his home when he was taken over by the demon, possibly killing his parents in the process, all the gods who don’t even HAVE parents (no idea how that works). Like, half of the people here either have abusive or missing parents or never had parents in the first place! So yeah, daddy issues is putting it very lightly. Also, how are gods even created??? Do they just spring from the ground full grown and knowing everything about the world? (Like a sort of Athena situation?)
Humanoid Clay, oh I hope it’s A!!! Also I read the response to my response last time and damn you have a REALLY good point there!
Veggiesnake, oh wow those are some really good points with the parallels between Ali and the collector! I really want to know Life’s motives!
Monkey In A Shoe, oh neat!
Youngstormlord, as to your response yesterday, can I just say: abso-fing-lutely, that would be AWESOME!!!
Lord, Red actually updates Mon, Wed, and Fri! And they haven’t missed a single day yet! (Which is incredibly impressive considering how much work has to go into this comic)
BlandedGear, damn you and HelloHaiku are on a roll today! Don’t worry about posting too late either! (I most certainly can’t judge considering how late I put this comment in, but I doubt the others would get mad at you. We’re just happy you’re here!)
Archaleus, urghhh I can’t decide!!! (I’m horrible at choosing favorites and making decisions unfortunately) I’ll get back to you once I’ve made my decision, but that’s an awesome question and I’m so glad you brought something up! It’s been so long since we’ve done a community quiz thing that wasn’t theory/story based and I really missed doing it! (well, technically the question is story based, but you know what I mean lol)
I love the detail of there being several different races in the prison, and also the detail of the guards. Damn, the arena master was really gonna let his own men die.
@Archaelus
I agree with Hii, it’s been a while since we’ve done one of these.
So I can’t really answer by plot, I started reading this comic through the tumblr, and I haven’t reread it, so I can’t really peel the chapters apart. So I am going to choose purely by cover art.
I pick interstitial, I love the composition and the glowy effects.
@HumanoidClay
My motto for life (not the character) is hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So I am hoping that she’s being encouraging, but I honestly think B is more likely.
TFW you’re going so hard your own avatar-state tells you to maybe chill out a bit.
Now is not the time for Primordial Life to be quoting one of Dril’s most famous utterances. Unless it’s to tell Alinua that she is her own elf and Life respects her agency too much to overwrite it, having seemingly made that terrible mistake once before.
What do the yellow names mean?
Nearly forgot!
Q:What do u call a Bagel that can fly?
A: a plane bagel
I rlly wanna maintain a pun streak
What if the “No” is in response to “I’m yours, right?”
I know everyone is super in the moment of the situation, but I kinda can’t help the thought of, “I wanna see Falst and Tess go up against each other sometime, even just in a friendly match.”
Alinua: Use me for good purpose!
Life: No, you’re not a tool to be used. Do it yourself!
Hiii:
To be fair: Kendal’s only issue with Vash is that Vash won’t let Kendal sacrifice himself all the time (which, preventing loved ones from sacrificing themselves is a good thing to do); Alinua’s adoptive parents (as far as we know) didn’t do anything wrong, Alinua ran away on her own initiative; and just because we haven’t seen Dainix’s or Shrike’s parents doesn’t mean they’re dead or abusive (plus, Shrike is a fairly minor character who seems to have left the plot already, and going into the familial nuances of every minor character we see is pretty unnecessary to the story as a whole). That said, of the current main cast, literally no one is completely free of parental issues; Kendal and Vash have schismed for Kendal’s safety, Alinua’s birth parents flung her into an abyss, Erin has major issues with his parents due to them owning his enslaved adoptive sister in the past, and Falst appears to have been abandoned or kicked out of his home (“Find your way if you are truly my son”). It’s still up in the air whether or not Tess and Dainix will join the group, but if they do, then Dainix will be the only main character without any known parental issues at all.
@TheUnknownGame I thought Dainix implied he got kicked out of his home for spontaneously combusting?
To Dandelion:
I believe he specifically stated that he was sent out to find more information on the demon and how to kill it, but considering he left out a certain key piece of information, it would not surprise me if this were actually the case.
In fact, it makes a twisted kind of sense. If a demon is an emotion/stress-driven time bomb, then exiling the individual in question not only guarantees that they’re far away when they inevitably go off, and the exile may even hasten the process, meaning the threat is over faster.
…Though that could also explain demon attacks on settlements. We don’t know how long a demon retains their memories after fully transforming, but something tells me that some deep part of them does in fact remember the betrayal, which drives them to return…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00EvO-X6Wu4&list=PLDnRMnDDjAzK5uZLidDUtHtD1iN06Qe0G
now i’m caught up, and gotta wait for the next episode to come out :(, wait that feels familiar
TheUnknownGame, yeah I suppose I meant it more in a way that they parents or guardians figures are gone or absent, not that they’re all horrible people. Sorry for not phrasing that clearly!
can I just say I love this page. It’s all so pretty! all those green swirls and the rain effects and everything? It’s awesome!
I wonder what Life wants done?
“At once Nature lift her voice to tell you this: No”
Alinua failed the check for divine Intervention.
This proves shes a life cleric.