I mean, yes, this is pretty much what we expected but seeing her standing over him like that… it hits different, yeah?
I’m pretty sure this means that “FIND YOUR WAY IF YOU ARE TRULY MY SON” is something his Dad said when he left or abandoned Falst, either at this point or after returning home. also, i don’t see a tail on either of the parents, but judging by the hair, I’d say Falst’s Dad was likely the Ferin parent (assuming they weren’t both Ferin) and his tail (assuming he has one) is hidden under the cloak.
Red’s tumblr! She has posted sketches of both of Falst’s parents, and a few theories have arisen from those. You can find her under the username comicaurora
Also on page 1.15.1, before Falst wakes up, we get one panel of what seems to be some kind of nightmare of his, in which you can just make out the words “find your way if you are truly my son”
HOOOO BOY, THATS QUITE A STORY TO UNPACK THERE.
Here’s the page with more flashbacks if anyone else wants to check it out again: https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-21-16/
Man this whole damn backstory is freaking me out, imagine your own mom trying to kill you
I have a character whose possessed dad actually kills her mom and almost kills her, then gets killed right in front of her by the woman who was possessing him.
Falst’s story fills me with melancholy but the last panel fills my gut with stomach wrenching horror of anticipation…
I disagree (respectfully) with @noodlegod the way Falst scratches the small lacrima is full of suppressed sorrow, rage and pain and this is only the first page of his soul-wrenching saga! Anime? more like full on gothic horror/tragedy Mary Shelley-style
Thank you @Leapyeargirl96! My old eyes missed that detail (and sometime I missing the big picture too). I am not sure the intent is magic runes specifically given that Falst’s is scratching them as he is telling the story. OK @thenoodlegod I concede that Falst COULD be drawing Lacrima runes. I am unsure of the intent. I wait for what will unfold next in the story- Aurora. Part of my pathos is created by seeing the story unfold from the innocent viewpoint of young, child-sized Falst. I keep hearing the tragic melody form the Incredible Hulk tv series (1978) whenever Dr. Banner had to leave someplace after the Hulk appeared,
Falst, if your dad said he was going out to get milk, I have some bad news for you.
It’s not just the art style of the flashback that’s amazing, it’s the framing of the shots too, especially panel 3 and 8. They’re done from young Falst’s, a child’s, perspective; everything in the room looks bigger, angles are different, people and ceilings look taller. We’ve had flashbacks before in this comic, but not from someone at this age; the style and perspective communicates this well.
While Falst carving runes on that life lacrima is cool and clever, doing it while recounting his story seem rather sad. Like he can’t even dedicate some time for just telling Dainix his story; his survival experience tells him he must do something practical as well.
Now, this does raise some questions about how Falst’s mother was corrupted in the first place. I doubt it was famine as they have food for her and neither Falst or his father are suffering too. They’re in a house, not the caves, so they didn’t lose their way in them. So my current hypothesis is that she spent too long in the caves by herself, maybe researching Ancients, and in these days sick the cave corruption fully set in after her exposure.
Alternatively, perhaps their house is in the caves? You can see a ceiling with supports when Falst goes to the well, perhaps indicating that it’s underground, since people don’t usually (as far as I know) build covered pathways to their wells. And assuming this is the same moment we saw in the background flashback, the water is very close to the top of the well, which might indicate that it’s quite close to the source.
A well? If you mean what Falst is above in the final panel that could just be a pillow and he’s rising from bed. And those supports could just be rafters of a house ceiling.
I doubt Ferin would live in the caves unless they were very desperate, and from the look of this house, Falst’s family seems fairly stable and well. Ferin may be magically inert and resistant to the six elements, but we have no evidence they are similarly hardy against Void. They might be, and it may be that that’s why Falst and his father aren’t afflicted, but we just don’t know.
The final panel resembles an earlier flashback (where baby Falst saw the reflection of his mom behind him in some kind of water) from another angle, so that might be why it’s assumed to be a well.
As for how his mom got cave corruption, maybe they’re in or near the caves (or venturing into the caves in an unsafe way) for research purposes? One or both of Falst’s parents was implied to be a scientist/researcher back in Falst’s intro arc, and it was implied that whoever it was wasn’t the most ETHICAL (or at least, was kinda a jerk about experimenting on their kid) so they might not have had the resources or professional support (or the desire) to take reasonable precautions around the caves and the ambition/curiosity to do so anyway.
Or, if it wasn’t one of Falst’s parents that was like Jolon that he’d been running from, they might have had to hide in the caves from whoever it WAS
It is what I was referring to when I mentioned a well — I assumed based on the reflection and the fact that he was wetting a cloth in it, presumably for the mom.
As for why Falst and the dad might not have been affected, ferin are pretty magic resistant in general, as Erin mentioned that the chimeric mutations Falst could make to himself with the lacrima would be rejected and would generally take much more power (1.10.29). I don’t see why this magic resistance wouldn’t also apply to elemental corruption (with the one downside being that they can’t expel it out themselves like mages). So perhaps since it seems that the dad is also a ferin (long hair matches Falst’s & cloak probably covering tail), they might be affected much more slowly than the mom (who doesn’t appear to be, based on the 1.21.16 flashback), or wouldn’t be affected at all.
Oh yeah, I see it now. It might be a well, but I’m more partial for it being a bucket or wash basin, given how close the water is to the surface.
Ferin are more resistant to normal elemental corruption, so they might be more resistant to Void corruption too; I’m hesitant to believe that 100% given how weird Void is, but it’s certainly possible.
My initial thought first encountering the mom theory was, because of the ‘you will find your way if you are truly my son’ dealio, that dad had left Falst in the caves for some reason and mom got corrupted trying to rescue him. Clearly, not the case. It is really weird, from Falst’s perspective at least it fully seems to have just happened spontaneously.
I uhh… I messed up very bad. Just an hour ago. In one of the most important exams I will ever take. And I open the page and I’m taking damage.
Red, it is amazing.
Once you are out of school, @Testing, you might find people not caring as much about your grades as other accomplishments -just the point of view one senior person.
Thanks, y’all. I’m lucky enough to be in a position where in the long run, I didn’t really lose that much. I should be glad it’s over, really. Butterfly effect be damned, I don’t know what path I’m on now but oh boy I’m taking it
I’m concerned, I think his mom killed his dad. I think when his dad got back the mom was already gone, getting ready to attack Falst. The dad saved him but died. That’s just my theory.
Judging by the… everything, I am starting to suspect his dad ends up also blaming him for the incident. Unless he simply resents his dad for failing to save his mom, but that angle doesn’t account for the “You will find your way if you are truly my son” thing.
Random, super dark theory: What if Falst’s dad intentionally set this all up to make Falst ‘strong’? As ferin, him and Falst would have a resistance to corruption that the mom wouldn’t. If the ‘find your way’ message is from the dad that would fit the personality type.
…the small object in hand has a reassuring coolness to it. It’s really not hard to formulate the story – it already has been, just by spinning around like a broken record in a locked up shed for so long.
But it’s different now – that shed is on fire— watched
Loudly belting out the tones higher— heard
Each word – decision, down to the wire—— known
chirrrp. chirrrp.
Cool presence. Distraction. Something on which one’s claws can gain traction.
Perhaps it’s okay yet for someone to know. To call out, at long last, no longer alone.
Good, he did remember healing spells from Erin’s textb– Oh… oh f*ck. Oh, this page is filling me with enormous amounts of dread. I think it’s because we already know the broad strokes of what happened, but we have yet to see just how badly Falst was hurt.
Oh my god i love how you stylized this page, the way it almost has the texture of a crayon drawing representing that even the clearest memories of a child are still fuzzy just because of the time that’s passed and how they couldn’t process everything the same way when they were young.
Hmmm, I don’t think Zombie applies here. I think Mom has become a Ghoul. Still kind-of-sort-of a person, but a corrupted, twisted version of them, possibly with the original soul having already departed. May not be technically undead in the classic sense, not sure how Red’s world interacts with the concept of Undead.
Right. Undead with minds: Do they have souls? I need to work on that for my own world-building.
Tiny. smol Falst squee, fighting with:
wanting to see bigger, buffer cat-dad
sadness at ENTIRE backstory
understanding why Red says that if she and her characters ever met, they’d kick her ass
JEEEEEZUS CHRIST that mom-ster scared the crap out of me that is an eldritch abomination if I’ve ever seen one. At least we’ve finally gotten confirmation that it is, in fact, a mom-ster. But seriously, props to Red for that design, and the design of the cave crawlers in general. They are the thing in this comic that have semi-haunted my nightmares since the moment they first showed up. The clawed hands with the reeeeally long fingers is a particular fear of mine, ever since I watched that one X-Files episode… This made it worse, but in a good way. 🙂
Writers who don’t have enough trauma to write about in real life and reader/viewers who love experiencing them. But who doesn’t like a good tragedy once and a while?
wow, i did not expect a confirmation like that, good job to everyone who predicted it before. (p.s. I probably won’t be on for a while after this, aurora has been blocked on my device and the best workaround I have is the library…so amazing comic and community I wish I could enjoy it more often.)
Oh. I just noticed something! If you look at the chapter cover image, the proportions on Falst’s face are far smaller than normal. At least they seem to be to me. If this is the case, it’s actually depicting a young Falst, perhaps our tragic floofy child we are seeing right now… Augh, that hurts..!
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: falst currently taking home the gold medal for Most Anime Backstory
Image source: silent
is he drawing lacrima runes
is he DRAWING LACRIMA RUNES?????
yes.
I think the first two are “SE” in Auroran alphabet.
SE-KAAIIIII DE ICHIBAN OHIME SAMAAAAA
Oh, nice the different look on the backstory panel.
Falst has SO much angst. He seems more angst then cat currently.
props to red— this page is simultaneously the saddest, cutest, spookiest, and nicest stylized page in the whole comic
Oh my gosh yes
I add pathos as well.
She’s just standing there, MENACINGLY!!!
When I read the alt text of the previous page, I wasn’t ACTUALLY expecting to learn Falst’s backstory- That was a s h o c k
NOOOOOO FALST T_T
I love the stylistic changes you made for the flashbacks! it’s gonna make the emotions hurt a lot more lol
poor baby, smol falst was/is adorable
wow, Falst’s traumatic childhood trauma is traumatic. wasn’t expecting that
I mean, yes, this is pretty much what we expected but seeing her standing over him like that… it hits different, yeah?
I’m pretty sure this means that “FIND YOUR WAY IF YOU ARE TRULY MY SON” is something his Dad said when he left or abandoned Falst, either at this point or after returning home. also, i don’t see a tail on either of the parents, but judging by the hair, I’d say Falst’s Dad was likely the Ferin parent (assuming they weren’t both Ferin) and his tail (assuming he has one) is hidden under the cloak.
The mother’s fingers come to points. I feel that that is a clear Ferin trait.
That’s because of Cave Corruption. Falst’s dad has been confirmed to be the Ferin of the two.
I don’t remember hearing anything from Falst’s dad, where was it mentioned?
Red’s tumblr! She has posted sketches of both of Falst’s parents, and a few theories have arisen from those. You can find her under the username comicaurora
Also on page 1.15.1, before Falst wakes up, we get one panel of what seems to be some kind of nightmare of his, in which you can just make out the words “find your way if you are truly my son”
It hit’s different,
Hits different this time
Super tramatic. Woulda been tramatic even had she *just* died and dad got home too late, but no a sector rises from her death.
And in a shocking turn of events, Falst backstory murders me brutally.
Who could have guessed.
And now we see the tragedy
That befell Falst when young and free
HOOOO BOY, THATS QUITE A STORY TO UNPACK THERE.
Here’s the page with more flashbacks if anyone else wants to check it out again: https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-21-16/
Man this whole damn backstory is freaking me out, imagine your own mom trying to kill you
I have a character whose possessed dad actually kills her mom and almost kills her, then gets killed right in front of her by the woman who was possessing him.
What inspired you to make something like that? What was your thought process?
Harsh
Falst’s story fills me with melancholy but the last panel fills my gut with stomach wrenching horror of anticipation…
I disagree (respectfully) with @noodlegod the way Falst scratches the small lacrima is full of suppressed sorrow, rage and pain and this is only the first page of his soul-wrenching saga! Anime? more like full on gothic horror/tragedy Mary Shelley-style
That’s what I thought at first too, but if you zoom in on the second to last panel you can see (Auroran) lettering
Please note that I do not believe Auroran is an official term, just something I’ve either heard from the comment section or made up on the spot
Thank you @Leapyeargirl96! My old eyes missed that detail (and sometime I missing the big picture too). I am not sure the intent is magic runes specifically given that Falst’s is scratching them as he is telling the story. OK @thenoodlegod I concede that Falst COULD be drawing Lacrima runes. I am unsure of the intent. I wait for what will unfold next in the story- Aurora. Part of my pathos is created by seeing the story unfold from the innocent viewpoint of young, child-sized Falst. I keep hearing the tragic melody form the Incredible Hulk tv series (1978) whenever Dr. Banner had to leave someplace after the Hulk appeared,
TRAUMATIC BACKSTORY TIME WOOOOOOOOO
Falst, if your dad said he was going out to get milk, I have some bad news for you.
It’s not just the art style of the flashback that’s amazing, it’s the framing of the shots too, especially panel 3 and 8. They’re done from young Falst’s, a child’s, perspective; everything in the room looks bigger, angles are different, people and ceilings look taller. We’ve had flashbacks before in this comic, but not from someone at this age; the style and perspective communicates this well.
While Falst carving runes on that life lacrima is cool and clever, doing it while recounting his story seem rather sad. Like he can’t even dedicate some time for just telling Dainix his story; his survival experience tells him he must do something practical as well.
Now, this does raise some questions about how Falst’s mother was corrupted in the first place. I doubt it was famine as they have food for her and neither Falst or his father are suffering too. They’re in a house, not the caves, so they didn’t lose their way in them. So my current hypothesis is that she spent too long in the caves by herself, maybe researching Ancients, and in these days sick the cave corruption fully set in after her exposure.
Alternatively, perhaps their house is in the caves? You can see a ceiling with supports when Falst goes to the well, perhaps indicating that it’s underground, since people don’t usually (as far as I know) build covered pathways to their wells. And assuming this is the same moment we saw in the background flashback, the water is very close to the top of the well, which might indicate that it’s quite close to the source.
If their house was in the caves, wouldn’t Falst and his dad have been affected too?
A well? If you mean what Falst is above in the final panel that could just be a pillow and he’s rising from bed. And those supports could just be rafters of a house ceiling.
I doubt Ferin would live in the caves unless they were very desperate, and from the look of this house, Falst’s family seems fairly stable and well. Ferin may be magically inert and resistant to the six elements, but we have no evidence they are similarly hardy against Void. They might be, and it may be that that’s why Falst and his father aren’t afflicted, but we just don’t know.
The final panel resembles an earlier flashback (where baby Falst saw the reflection of his mom behind him in some kind of water) from another angle, so that might be why it’s assumed to be a well.
As for how his mom got cave corruption, maybe they’re in or near the caves (or venturing into the caves in an unsafe way) for research purposes? One or both of Falst’s parents was implied to be a scientist/researcher back in Falst’s intro arc, and it was implied that whoever it was wasn’t the most ETHICAL (or at least, was kinda a jerk about experimenting on their kid) so they might not have had the resources or professional support (or the desire) to take reasonable precautions around the caves and the ambition/curiosity to do so anyway.
Or, if it wasn’t one of Falst’s parents that was like Jolon that he’d been running from, they might have had to hide in the caves from whoever it WAS
It is what I was referring to when I mentioned a well — I assumed based on the reflection and the fact that he was wetting a cloth in it, presumably for the mom.
As for why Falst and the dad might not have been affected, ferin are pretty magic resistant in general, as Erin mentioned that the chimeric mutations Falst could make to himself with the lacrima would be rejected and would generally take much more power (1.10.29). I don’t see why this magic resistance wouldn’t also apply to elemental corruption (with the one downside being that they can’t expel it out themselves like mages). So perhaps since it seems that the dad is also a ferin (long hair matches Falst’s & cloak probably covering tail), they might be affected much more slowly than the mom (who doesn’t appear to be, based on the 1.21.16 flashback), or wouldn’t be affected at all.
Oh yeah, I see it now. It might be a well, but I’m more partial for it being a bucket or wash basin, given how close the water is to the surface.
Ferin are more resistant to normal elemental corruption, so they might be more resistant to Void corruption too; I’m hesitant to believe that 100% given how weird Void is, but it’s certainly possible.
My initial thought first encountering the mom theory was, because of the ‘you will find your way if you are truly my son’ dealio, that dad had left Falst in the caves for some reason and mom got corrupted trying to rescue him. Clearly, not the case. It is really weird, from Falst’s perspective at least it fully seems to have just happened spontaneously.
Aww baby Falst. But also, Nooo baby Falst.
bebe falst is precious and I would die for him.
I uhh… I messed up very bad. Just an hour ago. In one of the most important exams I will ever take. And I open the page and I’m taking damage.
Red, it is amazing.
Alright, I’m feeling a lot better now. Time to properly appreciate tiny Falst.
The change in coloring, the narration augh- Im love him he is adorable
I’m glad you’re feeling better. And yes, tiny Falst is unreASONAbly cute.
Once you are out of school, @Testing, you might find people not caring as much about your grades as other accomplishments -just the point of view one senior person.
Thanks, y’all. I’m lucky enough to be in a position where in the long run, I didn’t really lose that much. I should be glad it’s over, really. Butterfly effect be damned, I don’t know what path I’m on now but oh boy I’m taking it
Chalk it up to another experience in living Life, @Testing! (smile warmly)
Sid – Rain starts playing in the background.
ahhh I love the storybook style Red chose for the flashback illustrations <3
noonnonoono, falstttttttt
I’m concerned, I think his mom killed his dad. I think when his dad got back the mom was already gone, getting ready to attack Falst. The dad saved him but died. That’s just my theory.
I love the flashback artstyle here. Can’t be stated often enough
THIS IS MY NEW FAVOURITE PAGE IN THE WHOLE COMIC
In the 4th, 5th, and 6th panels, the colors lose saturation as Falsts mom gets sicker. Just thought it was cool.
Red. Seriously. Stunning page. I love the unsaturated colors, fuzzy lines, child perspective… and of course, the horrifying demon monster mom.
Also, dad can’t have intended to abandon him- look at that hair. He belongs in the Floof Squad.
Also, dad can’t have intended to abandon him. Look at that hair- he belongs in the Floof Squad.
HIS MOM ATTACKED HIM?! No, you CAN’T be that mean!
Judging by the… everything, I am starting to suspect his dad ends up also blaming him for the incident. Unless he simply resents his dad for failing to save his mom, but that angle doesn’t account for the “You will find your way if you are truly my son” thing.
I love the crayony texture for the flashback panels! Really highlights that it’s a childhood memory.
Random, super dark theory: What if Falst’s dad intentionally set this all up to make Falst ‘strong’? As ferin, him and Falst would have a resistance to corruption that the mom wouldn’t. If the ‘find your way’ message is from the dad that would fit the personality type.
aAUGH NOOOOOO–-!
*note: pre–corruption, Falst’s mom has no claws.
…the small object in hand has a reassuring coolness to it. It’s really not hard to formulate the story – it already has been, just by spinning around like a broken record in a locked up shed for so long.
But it’s different now – that shed is on fire— watched
Loudly belting out the tones higher— heard
Each word – decision, down to the wire—— known
chirrrp. chirrrp.
Cool presence. Distraction. Something on which one’s claws can gain traction.
Perhaps it’s okay yet for someone to know. To call out, at long last, no longer alone.
Nice prose/poem!
Thanks!
Good, he did remember healing spells from Erin’s textb– Oh… oh f*ck. Oh, this page is filling me with enormous amounts of dread. I think it’s because we already know the broad strokes of what happened, but we have yet to see just how badly Falst was hurt.
Oh my god i love how you stylized this page, the way it almost has the texture of a crayon drawing representing that even the clearest memories of a child are still fuzzy just because of the time that’s passed and how they couldn’t process everything the same way when they were young.
Oh no
Uh oh. I didn’t picture a back story this bad. Not sure what I pictured–orphaned, yes–but not this.
oh dear.
well.
nothing I can say to this that other commenters haven’t already, but oh dear falst is way more traumatized than I thought huh
Hmmm, I don’t think Zombie applies here. I think Mom has become a Ghoul. Still kind-of-sort-of a person, but a corrupted, twisted version of them, possibly with the original soul having already departed. May not be technically undead in the classic sense, not sure how Red’s world interacts with the concept of Undead.
Right. Undead with minds: Do they have souls? I need to work on that for my own world-building.
Falst’s dad left to get healers, medicine, and milk.
Tiny. smol Falst squee, fighting with:
wanting to see bigger, buffer cat-dad
sadness at ENTIRE backstory
understanding why Red says that if she and her characters ever met, they’d kick her ass
It seems his mum lost her voice, but other than that she’s getting better, how great!
I hope all the Falst parent theorisers are feeling vindicated
Red has this uncanny ability to make everything way more dramatic and interesting than we would have expected. I like it.
Baby Falst looks so heartbroken in panel 6 I’m gonna cry
baby falst awwwwww
hello fellow swiftie
JEEEEEZUS CHRIST that mom-ster scared the crap out of me that is an eldritch abomination if I’ve ever seen one. At least we’ve finally gotten confirmation that it is, in fact, a mom-ster. But seriously, props to Red for that design, and the design of the cave crawlers in general. They are the thing in this comic that have semi-haunted my nightmares since the moment they first showed up. The clawed hands with the reeeeally long fingers is a particular fear of mine, ever since I watched that one X-Files episode… This made it worse, but in a good way. 🙂
Well that’s a top–tier pun!
ah dang wait that was earlier. woopsies. at least he’s explaining it more now. hahaha. yeah. we love trauma. *cries* *cries more*
BABY FALST AAAAA
But also SONEONE HELP THE POOR BABY NOOOOO. HE’S SETTING OFF MY HUG SENSES UAAAAAH, RED, STOP DOING THIS TO ME.
god me and falst man like literally the same person besides parents i have parents just not loving ones but other than that we so similar
Aurora Question #67: Who wants Trauma!!!
I do, I do!
Everyone, apparently!
Writers who don’t have enough trauma to write about in real life and reader/viewers who love experiencing them. But who doesn’t like a good tragedy once and a while?
Writers and readers/viewers, but who doesn’t like a good tear-jerker once and awhile?
To quote luz: mama’s ready for trauma !
wow, i did not expect a confirmation like that, good job to everyone who predicted it before. (p.s. I probably won’t be on for a while after this, aurora has been blocked on my device and the best workaround I have is the library…so amazing comic and community I wish I could enjoy it more often.)
Oh dear, how’d that happen?? I mean you probably can’t even answer that at this point… but, I hope you get access back soon!
BABY FALST NOOOOOO YOU’RE TOO PURE TO TRAUMATIZE!!!
Oh. I just noticed something! If you look at the chapter cover image, the proportions on Falst’s face are far smaller than normal. At least they seem to be to me. If this is the case, it’s actually depicting a young Falst, perhaps our tragic floofy child we are seeing right now… Augh, that hurts..!
No, nonoNO NO NOOOOOO I REACHED THE END SO FAR NOOOOOOOOOOO
What do you want to bet that our happy few are going to run into Falst’s dad again?
Unless the Mom-ster eats him on the next page or something.
Oof.. I wonder if its possible Cave Crawler status is Void Soul Corruption?
TL;DR: Time for my *tragic backstory*
Falst continues to be my favourite character
Demonslayer Vibes
I love the drawing style on this page.. Delicious!
I’ve only had baby Falst for a minute and a half, but if anything happens to him I will kill everyone in this room and then myself