1.19.38
on December 23, 2022
at 3:00 am
Chapter 20 begins Monday! Happy holidays!
(if you’re lost you can look and you will find me) (time after time)
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
Chapter 20 begins Monday! Happy holidays!
(if you’re lost you can look and you will find me) (time after time)
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: angsty demigod OWNED with FACTS and LOGIC
Image source: hope
Awwww….Punching me right in the feels.
ayo? ghosts of the dead here for an optimistic pep talk?
An inverse Charles Dickens!
Dang, you beat me to the punch…
It’s his people!!!
My guess as well.
WOW! Looking back at the other pages linked in the caption, it’s incredible to see how much Red has grown as an artist!
I know right! It’s downright ok inspiring!!
RED what are these CLIFFHANGERS you can’t DO THIS TO US
“You’ll find a way. You’re a protagonist, after all.”
The whispers in the morning
Are rolling by like thunder now
As I look in your eyes
I hold on to your whole body
And feel each move you make
Your voice is warm and tender
A love that I could not forsake
‘Cause I’m your God
And you are my man
Whenever you reach for me
I’ll do all that I can
Lost is how I’m feeling lying in your arms
When the world outside’s too much to take
That all ends when I’m with you
Even though there may be times
It seems I’m far away
Never wonder where I am
‘Cause I am always by your side
‘Cause I’m your God
And you are my man
Whenever you reach for me
I’ll do all that I can
We’re heading for something
Somewhere I’ve never been
Sometimes I am frightened
But I’m ready to learn
Of the power of love
The sound of your heart beating
Made it clear suddenly
The feeling that I can’t go on
Is light years away
‘Cause I’m your Lord
And you are my man
Whenever you reach for me
I’ll do all that I can
We’re heading for something
Somewhere I’ve never been
Sometimes I am frightened
But I’m ready to learn
Of the power of love
The power of love
The power of love
Sometimes I am frightened
But I’m ready to learn
Of the power of love”
Jennifer Rush, the power of love. Slightly edited : )
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing your Aurora-vision of her poem!
Beran: You also gave us these sick swirl tats.
Kendal coming to terms that being a demigod sucks, too weak for one thing, too powerful for another. But he keeps putting all these responsibilities on him and him alone; time for a spoopy pep talk session.
Looking at that child in the bottom left of the last panel, I do get the feeling these are the spirits of Vash and not figments of his subconscious. The genuine curiosity on the child’s face is something I don’t see being replicated by Kendal’s mind. That is both very sad, but also somewhat uplifting if the citizens of Vash have come to help one of their own.
Prediction for next week: Going from the page description and THE NEW CHAPTER PICTURE IN ARCHIVES, I’d say we’ll be taking a break from one angst pit and visit another, more corporeal one.
oh no, i didn’t see the child at first 🙁 but yeah, these are definitely the real spirits of Vash. everytime Kendal has fallen asleep (which tbf is only one other time) he’s communed with Vash in some way or had some magic-dream sequence. he IS the protagonist afterall, his dreams ALWAYS mean something
I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU SINCE CHAPTER 1! How’ve you been homie? Don’t look so good, but I’m glad to see the people of Vash still have their individuality
BERAN!!!
Hes got a name?!
Check the second link on Red’s comment, it’ll take you back to chapter 1. Beran is the only one of the victims whose name we know.
Familliar faces, caring faces
Self worth issues, doubts and fear galore
Though it seems someone thinks that to him there is more
What others have noted about how far you’ve come since chapter 1, but also, the kid(?) in the bottom left of that last panel looks like he’s about to be having a background crisis about some stuff, now that they’re all back as ghosts.
Yesss I’ve been wondering when the souls of the people of the city would come up, and when I saw the hands I was hoping it would be them. Hopefully they’ll knock some of the self sacrifice out of him so Alinua won’t have to worry so much!
Happy holidays!
I was right, the people of Vash.
What are they called I wonder? Vashies, Vashinites?
i kind of like the idea that they’re just called “Vash.” he and his people are one and the same, just like the walls of his city and the flesh of his body. they’re all a part of Vash
Vashta Nerada
…Wait no
Hello, darkness, my old friends. I’ve come to talk with you again. It’s been, what, 17 chapters since we last hand a chance to catch up? Good to see you again.
Aw, Kendal buddy, don’t worry. You just need to level grind a bit, and I bet that dragon fight gave you a bunch of experience points!
And on the plus side there is a massive dungeon full of Ancient Automata that doubles as a rescue mission, if that’s not enough go attack some rats or something I dont know.
lost it at “attack some rats”
i’m actually in love with this page, i’m deranged. when i read it today, the firt thing i looked for was a ‘like’ button
yeaaaa boiiiii it’s time for an “innermost cave-pep talk” from your… dead… citizens… hmm.
maybe this won’t be all that therapeutic, but it might finally help kendla let go of his innate guilt
Red. Red how very dare. A full week of dread, of creeping horror over eldritch souls of the dead possibly consuming our boy, and now you hit us with ‘actually the ghosts are compassionate, supportive, and here to pull our emotionally exhausted hero out of his self-destructive spiral’???? This is CLEARLY a targeted attack! Aaaaaiiiiiiiiiii I can’t!!!!!!!
omigod.
i cant comprehend how much this moves me.
holy crap.
we, as an audience, recognize some of those characters up front. Kendal is finally opening up to people he thinks are completely lost because of him, and they still see him as Vash. Or maybe as an emanation of him.
Jeepers criminey i can’t even explain how much i needed this right now.
beautiful. breathtaking. heartwarming. its a christmas gift i never thought we’d get yet one i cant be suprised at seeing arrive. Red, your game is on point.
Ohhhmegahd, bandaged boi Beran from Chap 1!
We thought we’d never see you again!
Y’all have weird-ass spirals now
(Also, I love the EH? face on the lil guy in the bottom left)
Super proud of myself for recognizing those characters before I even saw the comments or the links in the description.
Also also, Beran really is spilling the facts (even though they probably think Kendal’s Vash)
The wonder duo of Falst and Dainix fell down a ruin-y hole, bro and sis watching over the very stressed and sleep deprived alinua, AND NOW WE GOT A SPIRIT JOURNEY. There are so HADES DAMNED MANY CLIFFS HERE! AAAAAAAAAH
…And a surprise guest performance by Beran and the Ghosts of Vash!!
Called it!
Ahhhhh! I love this pageeeee!
First of all, Kendal finally opening up with his emotional problems (which is also interesting because he only chose to do it when he’s alone alone which fits his character so much, and ties into the worries he’s verbally expressing about only being a burden–)
Second of all, OH MY GOODNESS THOSE GHOST DESIGNS SLAP. I don’t know what it is about the monochrome blue and bright glowy spirals that’s just like, inherently ghostly and otherworldly and pretty (and also somehow familiar feeling despite that?), but they also kinda look like reflections in water and that’s so fitting and cool and I LOVE IT
This is better than turming him into Venom! They look so good now!
Also: NEW CHAPTER!!!
oh my god, that chapter cover looks amazing. and that’s horror genre if i’ve ever seen it, i can’t wait!!!
but first, i see dead people, and they’re gorgeously illustrated
I was right on the previous page; Kendal was hopeless and resigned. I hope Beran, his fellows, and perhaps eventually Vash himself are able to convince Kendal to gain a sense of self-worth; especially Vash, considering that Kendal’s unpersoning instinct is devoted wholly to sacrificing himself to save Vash. (Also, nice to see that the eldritch ghosts turned out to be not eldritch at all.)
Wow. It really was a hug void.
So it IS a hugpit after all
Oh my gosh, you are so GOOD at this! The ‘spoopy ghosts’ are kind and might help Kendal with his terrible self-image problem. I love this page so much!!
Hah! I knew they were friendly! I always said those hands looked like they were supporting him rather than trying to drag him down. They were just giving him head pats because he was being all miserable.
Kendal: Wait, you guys aren’t the souls of the undead come to suck me down into hell as payment for my sins?
Vash citizen #1: What-
Looking at the chapter cover, it seems like a lot of chapter 20 (wow we’re on chapter 20) will be about Team Redhead and the hole they fell into. BONDING ADVENTUREEEEEEEE!
Since were are still in the dream pit, its still hard to give any fun facts, here’s a joke from my French teacher instead:
A snail won the lottery so he bought a town car and got it decorated with the letter “s” all over the car. His friend questioned him asking, “why would you want s’s all over your car?” The snail replied, “so when people see me they would say, ‘look at the s-car-go!’”
(Best to say that last part out loud)
Huh, so they still exist, kinda its more alive then I expected.
That kid in the lower left, though.
“Dad, why do I have a corporeal form again?”
This page made me cry ngl
Red, you are amazing and terrible at the same time
Let me show you a different way of looking at this scene- with apologies to Alcoholics Anonymous who may object to my comparison to Kendal’s situation. I think the spirits of Vash’s city wrestled with Kendal until he ‘hit bottom’ and admitted out loud his great despair and now that Kendal realized it they can NOW give him something to help him do something about it. If you think (or Know) I am wrong then Please leave a comment briefly WHAT or WHY I am wrong so other people can know what you know or believe true!
This page made me cry ngl
Kendal is finally gonna learn to love and trust himself and I am READY
I sense a “You Are Better Than You Think You Are” speech coming
Hey Red, your commentary made me think of something. You also have random music triggering in your head constantly from things people say in normal conversation, don’t you?
Yes, this is another item on the ‘not most people’ list. 😀 It’s one of my criteria for measuring the effects of meds, the louder and more frequent the music is in my head, the more my meds have worn off. I just wish I could actually carry a tune. 🙁 So the music has to live just in my head.
I come from a very musical family, and we’re all like that, except none of us hesitate to sing it out loud (even when my dad dies it in an obnoxiously high voice).
Does*
My brain does that too! It’s very useful for learning songs.
This is also a thing my brain does. Once I got to play a get-to-know you game that was basically “split into groups and try to think of songs that have [X] word in it” and uh… let’s just say for round 2, they introduced a rules patch to nerf me
Completely random theory time: Kendal’s soul actually consists of all the souls of Vash’s people and that’s how they’re talking to him right now. Vash (the god) put the city’s souls in Kendal’s body because its more merciful then being trapped under the debris for an undetermined period of time.
(I have no proof for this theory. Just something I thought up out the blue?♀️)
A worthy rival to the Blade and Man as One theory that’s been around since chapter 8; I look forward to seeing which, if either, is true. (Also, your theory reminds me of *spoilers for a major character’s nature and backstory* from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.)
Having just reread the opening, I support this theory. The blue energy that moved from the rock to Kendal just before he awoke.. Yeah, sounds about right.
Ooo look! Text bubbles! I haven’t seen those in… two pages. Huh. Well, I can’t wait for next chapter! Looks like we’ll be seeing some more of the orange hair bois.
And the citizens of Vash make a somewhat unexpected return!
There once was an army of ghosts
Who were acting as Kendal’s hosts.
They did not blame him,
Nor did they shame him,
But said he’d no need of roasts.
ITS THE GUY
“The ghosts of Vash chatter in the back of my head…” (page 1.3.6) And they’re *still there* and have been all along…?!
Also, something I want to point out about Beran that, as of this page, I’ve decided is definitely intentional: his bandages are on his left eye and right hand, just like Vash’s injuries when he fought Tynan. Beran is a ‘Vash Figure’, as it were — specifically a visual parallel to Vash’s previous darkest hour moment, after he lost his left eye and right hand in the fight, and before he figured out how to replace them with the gem and ingot.
“listen I don’t know what kind of existential crisis you’ve been through but this is the HUG PIT. you are getting a pep talk whether you like it or not”
Are you telling me The Hug Pit may include ACTUAL HUGS?
It’s a wintry miracle!
Welcome to the Shadow Realm. I wonder how much of Vash is still bound up in these shades, even though they are dead.
https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-1-11/
Beran is friend-shaped
that’s all
oh wow; the ghosts were in the first panel! I thought that was just background!! Amazing!
So then does that mean that there is hope for these people??
Beran: I don’t think you’re useless. But I do have to ask you to put on a shirt. Have decency, my lord.
Merr Crimbus!
merry crisis
holy shit its them!
TL;DR: A reunion?
Sorry about my absence, things got a bit busy and I kind of forgot about this…
It’s okay, we all get interruptions sometimes; I thought I wouldn’t be able to see Wednesday’s page due to a power blackout on Tuesday.
Yay, our TL;DR is back!
Good to know you’re okay.
Wait, you actually noticed? Or are you trying to be nice? People are mystifying…
Yeah I’m okay. There’s just been a lot going on. Midterms, my parents lying about a vacation and making me go anyway, and of course my ever failing mental health… But I’m fine.
I genuinely noticed you were gone and wondered if you were okay. Sad to hear about what you’ve got going on, and I hope it gets better for you and that you have a great Christmas or whatever you might do around this time of year. And this may sound really pretentious but I really mean it- I want you to know that I, at least, support you. I don’t even know you, but maybe you need to know that I care.
Gosh that sounded really pretentious and over the top sweet but I meant it.
You’re back! ?
absolutely hyped for the next chapter
For Christmas, Kendal got a pep talk from the ghost of Vashes past.
is he finally gonna get therapy?
I don’t know what it is about it, but I really like the blue spiral patterns on the people of Vash. (it is the people of the city right?)
You know, one thing no one talks for real-world mythologies about is the sheer volume of children/toddlers/babies that should be in the afterlife just due to the high mortality rates. That one kid in the bottom-left has had an insane couple of months.
Kendal, you really need a hug. You need all the hugs. Hence why the souls of your people have brought you to their personal HUG PIT.
Really glad that Red decided to have them retain their individualities, as I’m not sure an eldritch nightmare of fragmented souls suffering in an abyss would do much to improve Kendal’s mental health.
I think it’s likely that the souls of Vash have an awareness of what Kendal’s up to, or at least how he’s feeling, given that gods and their people seem to influence one another. They can probably feel Kendal’s mental anguish and realize that he won’t be able to release them if he doesn’t reconcile with them. They likely brought him here more for his sake than theirs.
Also, you can totally pick out each ghost on this page and match them to one of the people on 1.1.2. Red even went to the effort of drawing the ones furthest in the back with more or less the same hair outlines. Those are the last people Vash saw before he was taken and they’d be the ones freshest in Kendal’s mind, so they’ve likely selected those specific souls in an effort to comfort Kendal. How sweet, in a morbid sort of way.
MYYYY LORD OMG MY HEART HE Iaehgsljkhrqeupio;ghioaerhgjopiahfpOIH(UPGHU DEMIGODDD- LORD- FLICKSING SWESARAING FURIOSLHY IJG)IWHEOGPIH i can can barely wait for the next page, yet I feel I would do so forever.
If anyone else has bothered to read to the bottom of the comments, did you notice the one dude by Kendal’s head in the last panel who’s staring at his gf like “omg, we’re dead and she’s *still* the hottest”
GHOST TIME
It’s good to see Beran again.