ok I know this is a very emotional page but I greatly appreciate red’s commitment to the “if YOU’RE ___ and I’M ___ then who’s driving this plot?” joke. I swear we get at least one each arc and I am here for it every time
My thoughts on this page:
AAAARGH my heart.
AAAARGH poor Alinua’s heart.
Also Kendal’s precious lil smile in panel 2.
Also also I don’t know what magic it is about hugs that make every thing better, but they do. Just hug and cry and let yourself feel every emotion you feel
I can tell by that text that you are an emotive and cathartic being @Vessyra, reserved behavior is not for you. Just remember there are shy and repressed people who are not ready for your bold behavior!
He believed Vash mattered more and that he wasn’t important, not to himself and not to anyone else (or at least that Vash would be more important to everyone else)… poor babies, I wanna give them all a hug and tell them it’ll be alright.
“fight-time is over, talk-time is now”
Me: (remembers how this whole arc was supposed to be the rest arc) I’m hopeful, but cautiously so.
Nice to see Alinua is self-aware what she’s going to say will be angry, but frankly she needs this outlet. Traumatic experience during and after the Tynan fight when it comes to healing people, including herself; Life vision bringing some explanations, but not quite closure; her reaction to the glort assimilating her plants and hurting her friends; and not Kendal is back putting himself in danger. I totally expect an outburst from Alinua to get her emotions out (Falst please take notes).
What he did was potentially very stupid, and led Alinua and Falst into some bad states, but in his defence, they didn’t have many other choices against Tynan. Hopefully though he can train this power further in case they need starfire again without invoking Vash, both for Kendal’s safety and not to clue in the Collector more than they already have done.
Prediction for next week: Not sure beyond what I’m looking at now with Alinua and Kendal. Maybe Tess/Erin sibling banter about letting Kendal go free? Dainix checking in on Falst?
We need some emotional song from a Xenoblade game over this.
Or that really sad song from Super Mario Galaxy that plays during the little storybook and makes everyone cry for no good reason.
Alinua. Kendal. The desperate hug, the tears, the self-aware “anything I say right now is going to come out angry,” the “how could you do this to me,” I’m– ;_;
Good talk. Good hug. Fantastically drawn expressions. I love the way the middle panel takes up space and extends that moment Alinua hugs him to capture the weight of it, too.
I am struck by how beautifully Red’s art has developed since the first time we saw Alinua crying, all the way back in the scene she’s mentioning. Awesome to see such growth! (oh, and yeah, the story is pretty spectacular and addictive, too. XD )
Looking forward to Actual rest, humor, and travel time. Maybe some theories about the Glort? Definitely some sibling moments. And no, Kendal, near-death experiences don’t count as rest. Perhaps someone should note that Erin, Falst, and Dainix haven’t slept. Wait. Neither has Alinua. Has Tess? Pretty soon they’ll be hallucinating!
hopefully once they work this out, the next few pages will just be the equivalent of the “i take a nap right here, good night” vine, cause these poor floofs have gone through enough for one day…
(has it still only been about a day since tynan?)
There once was a frightened cloud elf
Who saw Kendal killing himself,
And now begs him why
He’d make her watch him die
When he’d stopped her from doing that herself.
I didn’t think a limerick could be depressing and sad, but somehow this one is. Oh poor Alinua! 🙁
Alinua, he probably did that because the only thing as awful as seeing someone die for you is going through life with the knowledge that you could have saved someone but you didn’t.
I love the expressions on this page. Kendal looks so peaceful. Alinua looks happy for the first time since before Zurrith. Now they need some time to nap and hug and drink hot cocoa.
Anonymous Aurora Question #32: As a followup to the last question: How floofy do you think the glort’s and Void dragon’s hair would be, if they had any.
I think Glort might develop floof as it consumes floofy beings, it amalgamates it into itself. But it’d be really gross, more like long, wavy swaths of goop extending from the central form.
Your idea got are reaction from the back of my head, but I respect the ‘Fro. Glort I imagine with wicked dreadlocks but the Void Dragon as being with little or no hair as that would of get in the way of fighting, eating or targeting it next victim.
Voidy would definitely have a lot of floof – covers-the-whole sky-when-he-gets-a-power-up-floof – but I feel like the gloop would have long, slicked down dreadlocks that trails on the ground like a polluted river. Also, does anyone else get “mouldy voldy” vibes when you use the nickname “voidy” for void dragon? (Context – Mouldy Voldy is from Peeve’s song about Voldemort at the end of the last Harry Potter book)
Man, now I really want to hear a version of that song about Void Dragon.
It’s been a while since Kendal and Alinua had a moment, and they always tug on my heartstrings in the best of ways.
I also really like the detail in the first panel of Kendal’s bandages being burned.
If they go with baths, Alinua’s floof will curl even more tightly, and Kendal’s will look wetly wavy and somewhat straggly. Erin’s will stand up awkwardly. Dainix’s will dry the fastest. Falst’s will mat like fur and then look just as it does dry. Tess will have to watch out for static when her hair is wet.
This is lovely, but I’m actually quite relieved that Alinua has some control over her emotions here, because her angry beat feels to me a little like, “How dare you scare me, just so you can save us all with an excellent plan!” I just don’t feel like Alinua would have any right to be angry, if everyone were real people and not narrative characters. It would feel like a denial of the desperate situation they’re in, and I just don’t see Alinua being that selfish or co-dependent. I guess, maybe, if the anger is just a front to hide the relief and joy that Kendal didn’t, actually, sacrifice himself for her, it might make sense to me.
My view is that both Kendal and Alinua both greatly respect each other and want to express/communicate their worries without lashing out at each other but carefully express what is bothering them to the other. They are family not by blood or courtship or communal bond but by common direction and shared sorrows, trials and successes shared. I think that goes for the entire Floof gang too. Because they are heroes they do all the actions we would want to do in that crisis/journey.
It’s not about whether or not it’s right for her to be angry. Anger is seldom fully justified, especially when it comes from a place of deep caring about another person. I feel that it makes her even more credible and realistic by her having an overflowing of emotion like this.
When I wrote the original post in November, I’d only read Arc 1 in a disjointed, on-and-off fashion. Reading it beginning-to-end in a short period of time, I realize that Kendal has the same lack of a healthy self-preservation instinct that Daniel Jackson and Rei Ayanami do (and maybe Falst, but he’s “tactical” about it). I’d forgotten that even Vash told him to cut it out!
Also, I didn’t understand Alinua’s separation anxiety. I do now. I’d forgotten that Alinua had lived alone in the forest for years, miserably but ethically, until Kendal came along and gave her a reason to risk the outside world again. Without Kendal, there’s nothing left but a dark precipice… the bridge was burned back in chapter 1 or 2.
There could be some juicy interpersonal conflicts building for future arcs, but I can confidently say now that my first-read reaction was wrong and due to confusion. Everyone’s perfectly in character.
I love how gently Kendal cradles Alinua’s head in the same hand that handled the soulfire so skillfully just a few panels before and how aware much he has changed from when he first awoke as his own being in Vash’s body as a separate person after he awoke from communing with Vash’s citizens entombed in his city.
I also love the scene of panel three, Kendal being held by his first friend he every had while he is holding his name-stake and symbol of his promise to save his beloved Vash. A very poignant plateau of Kendal’s condition between drawn to fulfill his purpose and living for himself and his concern for the people he has come to love on his journey to freeing an imprisoned god.
aaaahahahhhhhh… *softly cries*
I love this page. I know it’s sad, and yes, I have the ultimate feels, but I feel so glad that they can actually talk it out. This has been a TRAUMATIC experience for both of these two, and good communication is the key to healing mutual trauma. Also hugs. Many hugs. It’s refreshing to see a piece of media letting their characters share their emotions with each other instead of keeping them bottled up. I believe that these two can figure it out and heal, no matter how much time it may take!
And yes, I KNOW this comic has already done that a whole bunch, but I STILL LOVE IT.
Back in 1.17.18, Alinua’s last words to Kendal (when he was conscious) were “Stop it! Why do you keep DOING this?! LOOK at [Tynan]! Look at what he DID to you! How can you act like that doesn’t matter?! How many times are you going to make me save you?”
His last words to her were “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Now his first words back to her again are “I’m sorry.”
Kendal’s got so much more apologizing to do before she can begin to forgive him for going into the last phase of his battle against Tynan without healing fully, and for committing suicide, and for going into battle against the Void Goop while still super injured.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: but if YOU’RE taking the bullet, and I’M taking the bullet, then who’s driving this plot?
Image source: how
Tumblr text: hug tiiiiiime
He smiles, at peace with things at last
And Ali cries, for reasons vast
Continuation:
How could he die for her this way?
Though he knows it’d cause dismay
This page HURTS. I do not have much to say but augh Alinua :'(
ok I know this is a very emotional page but I greatly appreciate red’s commitment to the “if YOU’RE ___ and I’M ___ then who’s driving this plot?” joke. I swear we get at least one each arc and I am here for it every time
I AGREE LMAOOOO it’s the funniest bit and running gag Red has going on it has me in hysterics every time <333
i never noticed this, could you point out where its happened before?
Slime’s over, let’s get everyone a nap and some therapy
Quick! Go have sex before one of you dies!
Maybe allosexuals don’t deserve rights.
Normally I’m not for discrimination of any kind, but yes.
*falls on face in both Kendal’s and my own ace*
What are you talking about
They already got therapy the best kind. Combat therapy.
WHAT IF I CRIED FOREVERRRRRR
OUGHHHHHHH IMS OBBBING ))))))): IM EXPERIENCING ]:
Because he couldn’t stand to see you die maybe?
Whew, oh man I felt that
My thoughts on this page:
AAAARGH my heart.
AAAARGH poor Alinua’s heart.
Also Kendal’s precious lil smile in panel 2.
Also also I don’t know what magic it is about hugs that make every thing better, but they do. Just hug and cry and let yourself feel every emotion you feel
I can tell by that text that you are an emotive and cathartic being @Vessyra, reserved behavior is not for you. Just remember there are shy and repressed people who are not ready for your bold behavior!
He believed Vash mattered more and that he wasn’t important, not to himself and not to anyone else (or at least that Vash would be more important to everyone else)… poor babies, I wanna give them all a hug and tell them it’ll be alright.
Oh my gods the EMOTIONS my heart can’t take it *sobs into my pillow*
“fight-time is over, talk-time is now”
Me: (remembers how this whole arc was supposed to be the rest arc) I’m hopeful, but cautiously so.
Nice to see Alinua is self-aware what she’s going to say will be angry, but frankly she needs this outlet. Traumatic experience during and after the Tynan fight when it comes to healing people, including herself; Life vision bringing some explanations, but not quite closure; her reaction to the glort assimilating her plants and hurting her friends; and not Kendal is back putting himself in danger. I totally expect an outburst from Alinua to get her emotions out (Falst please take notes).
What he did was potentially very stupid, and led Alinua and Falst into some bad states, but in his defence, they didn’t have many other choices against Tynan. Hopefully though he can train this power further in case they need starfire again without invoking Vash, both for Kendal’s safety and not to clue in the Collector more than they already have done.
Prediction for next week: Not sure beyond what I’m looking at now with Alinua and Kendal. Maybe Tess/Erin sibling banter about letting Kendal go free? Dainix checking in on Falst?
I feel the full emotional weight of this but cant remember why…
Guess i gotta re-read the entire comic :3
Enjoy! 😉
We need some emotional song from a Xenoblade game over this.
Or that really sad song from Super Mario Galaxy that plays during the little storybook and makes everyone cry for no good reason.
Would Bob Seger scratch your itch? Sir Elton John maybe?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
My heart hurts and I don’t know why.
Maybe see a doctor? Do you have a family history of emotional webcomics?
don’t mind me stealing that quote
And then Alinua kicked his butt.
Alinua. Kendal. The desperate hug, the tears, the self-aware “anything I say right now is going to come out angry,” the “how could you do this to me,” I’m– ;_;
Good talk. Good hug. Fantastically drawn expressions. I love the way the middle panel takes up space and extends that moment Alinua hugs him to capture the weight of it, too.
Please let them all get baths and sleep soon.
✨THEM✨
Talk-time is boring, can’t we just skip ahead to food-time, sex-time, sleep-time?
With how much they need to unpack I am going to say no that won’t be skipped. But food and sleep time both sound needed here.
I am struck by how beautifully Red’s art has developed since the first time we saw Alinua crying, all the way back in the scene she’s mentioning. Awesome to see such growth! (oh, and yeah, the story is pretty spectacular and addictive, too. XD )
Looking forward to Actual rest, humor, and travel time. Maybe some theories about the Glort? Definitely some sibling moments. And no, Kendal, near-death experiences don’t count as rest. Perhaps someone should note that Erin, Falst, and Dainix haven’t slept. Wait. Neither has Alinua. Has Tess? Pretty soon they’ll be hallucinating!
I think Alinua slept a little bit after that bonding moment with tess
hopefully once they work this out, the next few pages will just be the equivalent of the “i take a nap right here, good night” vine, cause these poor floofs have gone through enough for one day…
(has it still only been about a day since tynan?)
There once was a frightened cloud elf
Who saw Kendal killing himself,
And now begs him why
He’d make her watch him die
When he’d stopped her from doing that herself.
I didn’t think a limerick could be depressing and sad, but somehow this one is. Oh poor Alinua! 🙁
Words are tools poets use to express hearts being. Your own work is good example of that.
Alinua, he probably did that because the only thing as awful as seeing someone die for you is going through life with the knowledge that you could have saved someone but you didn’t.
I love the expressions on this page. Kendal looks so peaceful. Alinua looks happy for the first time since before Zurrith. Now they need some time to nap and hug and drink hot cocoa.
Exactly what I was hoping for. Oh Red, you deserve so many accolades for your writing. It’s so real and down to Earth on so many levels.
Anonymous Aurora Question #32: As a followup to the last question: How floofy do you think the glort’s and Void dragon’s hair would be, if they had any.
Voidy is getting ALL THE FLOOF. MOUNTAINS OF FLOOF. OCEANS OF FLOOF. ALL CONSUMING FLOOF (fits pretty well with his character theme, huh!)
I think Glort might develop floof as it consumes floofy beings, it amalgamates it into itself. But it’d be really gross, more like long, wavy swaths of goop extending from the central form.
Both have Afros.
Your idea got are reaction from the back of my head, but I respect the ‘Fro. Glort I imagine with wicked dreadlocks but the Void Dragon as being with little or no hair as that would of get in the way of fighting, eating or targeting it next victim.
Walter gets a plume or continuous mane, and I pictured the glort as bald for some reason.
Voidy would definitely have a lot of floof – covers-the-whole sky-when-he-gets-a-power-up-floof – but I feel like the gloop would have long, slicked down dreadlocks that trails on the ground like a polluted river. Also, does anyone else get “mouldy voldy” vibes when you use the nickname “voidy” for void dragon? (Context – Mouldy Voldy is from Peeve’s song about Voldemort at the end of the last Harry Potter book)
Man, now I really want to hear a version of that song about Void Dragon.
It’s been a while since Kendal and Alinua had a moment, and they always tug on my heartstrings in the best of ways.
I also really like the detail in the first panel of Kendal’s bandages being burned.
SHES TORMENTEDDDD
omg her face😭
If they go with baths, Alinua’s floof will curl even more tightly, and Kendal’s will look wetly wavy and somewhat straggly. Erin’s will stand up awkwardly. Dainix’s will dry the fastest. Falst’s will mat like fur and then look just as it does dry. Tess will have to watch out for static when her hair is wet.
HUGS! As a non-hugger, yay hugs.
Get these people a therapist
This page restored my health and gave 3 more years of life
This is lovely, but I’m actually quite relieved that Alinua has some control over her emotions here, because her angry beat feels to me a little like, “How dare you scare me, just so you can save us all with an excellent plan!” I just don’t feel like Alinua would have any right to be angry, if everyone were real people and not narrative characters. It would feel like a denial of the desperate situation they’re in, and I just don’t see Alinua being that selfish or co-dependent. I guess, maybe, if the anger is just a front to hide the relief and joy that Kendal didn’t, actually, sacrifice himself for her, it might make sense to me.
My view is that both Kendal and Alinua both greatly respect each other and want to express/communicate their worries without lashing out at each other but carefully express what is bothering them to the other. They are family not by blood or courtship or communal bond but by common direction and shared sorrows, trials and successes shared. I think that goes for the entire Floof gang too. Because they are heroes they do all the actions we would want to do in that crisis/journey.
That . . . Is the most accurate, in-depth character relations analysis that I have EVER seen
It’s not about whether or not it’s right for her to be angry. Anger is seldom fully justified, especially when it comes from a place of deep caring about another person. I feel that it makes her even more credible and realistic by her having an overflowing of emotion like this.
When I wrote the original post in November, I’d only read Arc 1 in a disjointed, on-and-off fashion. Reading it beginning-to-end in a short period of time, I realize that Kendal has the same lack of a healthy self-preservation instinct that Daniel Jackson and Rei Ayanami do (and maybe Falst, but he’s “tactical” about it). I’d forgotten that even Vash told him to cut it out!
Also, I didn’t understand Alinua’s separation anxiety. I do now. I’d forgotten that Alinua had lived alone in the forest for years, miserably but ethically, until Kendal came along and gave her a reason to risk the outside world again. Without Kendal, there’s nothing left but a dark precipice… the bridge was burned back in chapter 1 or 2.
There could be some juicy interpersonal conflicts building for future arcs, but I can confidently say now that my first-read reaction was wrong and due to confusion. Everyone’s perfectly in character.
And nothing’s “unjustified”
The time for Fight has passed. The Lord’s talk must begin.
TL;DR: AND THEY HUGGED!
I love how gently Kendal cradles Alinua’s head in the same hand that handled the soulfire so skillfully just a few panels before and how aware much he has changed from when he first awoke as his own being in Vash’s body as a separate person after he awoke from communing with Vash’s citizens entombed in his city.
I also love the scene of panel three, Kendal being held by his first friend he every had while he is holding his name-stake and symbol of his promise to save his beloved Vash. A very poignant plateau of Kendal’s condition between drawn to fulfill his purpose and living for himself and his concern for the people he has come to love on his journey to freeing an imprisoned god.
Whoof- that’s deep man
Oh gods… I’ve caught up…
Man, this page is really pretty
aaaahahahhhhhh… *softly cries*
I love this page. I know it’s sad, and yes, I have the ultimate feels, but I feel so glad that they can actually talk it out. This has been a TRAUMATIC experience for both of these two, and good communication is the key to healing mutual trauma. Also hugs. Many hugs. It’s refreshing to see a piece of media letting their characters share their emotions with each other instead of keeping them bottled up. I believe that these two can figure it out and heal, no matter how much time it may take!
And yes, I KNOW this comic has already done that a whole bunch, but I STILL LOVE IT.
Back in 1.17.18, Alinua’s last words to Kendal (when he was conscious) were “Stop it! Why do you keep DOING this?! LOOK at [Tynan]! Look at what he DID to you! How can you act like that doesn’t matter?! How many times are you going to make me save you?”
His last words to her were “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Now his first words back to her again are “I’m sorry.”
Kendal’s got so much more apologizing to do before she can begin to forgive him for going into the last phase of his battle against Tynan without healing fully, and for committing suicide, and for going into battle against the Void Goop while still super injured.
I love how she’s like, “I don’t want to sound mad, goddamnit, but I don’t think there’s any way around it!”
🙁
It has been over two years, but finally a new day dawns.
I have really enjoyed this arc, and I can’t wait for more!