2.1.25
on March 20, 2024
at 3:00 am
kendal has had two dreams in his life and neither of them were any fun so far
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
kendal has had two dreams in his life and neither of them were any fun so far
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: or maybe I’m the first fantasy author in history to give a character a dream that means absolutely nothing
Image source: gone
Tumblr text: speaking of The Boy
Twitter text: More musings
tumblr text: speaking of The Boy
Twitter Text: More musings
Actually I remember reading a story where the protagonists had dreams that meant nothing. Well, at first they were significant dreams but the character was too dense to get them, then they progressively became more and more unhinged (mixing in scenes from various other famous stories’ prophetic dreams, like Paul’s dreams from Dune except parodied) and ended up completely incoherent.
But of course, this was all played for laugh. I’ll admit that outside of parodies like this, I haven’t seen a red herring dream that I can recall.
I’ve actually been planning a story which has a scene where one mc has a weird dream based on the crazy day he just had, and has a quiet laugh about it with the other mc. It means nothing but bonding for the two mcs, and a little comedic relief 🙂
I look forward to reading any book that isn’t completely filled with inferences – I like a little irrelevance from time to time.
Kendal really isn’t getting sold on the idea of sleep is he?
Awwww, poor Kendal. I hope he’s right because his dream was a HUGE kick in the feels.
I wonder if the at chain is still in one piece…
(There is a very subtle creak in the fourth panel, right where Kendal is gripping the chain)
Damn, would be a shame… if it broke, he fell forward and we speedrun the drowning experiment
such a shame
…it would be a shame if dainix runs up from behind and pushes him in as well
are you ok spider? These don’t feel like good thoughts.
i’m good, don’t you worry about me
Inside of you there are two dreams
alinua dude check if hes breathing
Well, he’s talking right now.
Ha
Alinua and Kendal on the clifftop discuss
His dream of the people of Vash.
He feels he heard their souls, but those
Should be gone as wind-blown ash.
In memories only the Vashi should linger on
So what was the dream of a chapter bygone?
Also your poem makes my wonder: How do you lot pronounce “Vash”? Has the illustrious creator given an official version? I always assumed the a rings like u in “fun”, but that might just be me.
I pronounced the a as in the British version of tomato. Which I now realize makes it sound like the French word for cow
I pronounce it like it’s written in the ballad: rhymes with “ash”. I’m pretty sure there was an official stance given on this at some point but I forgot what it was.
As in, you have it rhyme with “rush”? I’m curious why you do it like that.
Word of Red says it rhymes with “crash”.
I thought that was a haiku for a second, but that third line is 10 syllables, so definitely not 😅 lol
My non-native English speaker background showing. In all the languages I know aside from English, a is usually pronounced like that. So in a word that isn’t English, my Swedish or German pronunciation will take over. But if Red says it rhymes with rash, then so be it.
I love how since we’ve learnt Kendal doesn’t breathe, everyone’s been just waiting for him to end up in the water.
I love these two. They have such a healthy and well written relationship. I’m glad they get to therapize their character development comas together.
Gosh the art just looks SO much cleaner… Every frame looks polished, every face looks sharp and discernible, the backgrounds the lighting everything!!! I love your progress Red it’s genuinely so inspiring 😀
I always find it kind of disturbing when a fantasy series doesn’t have a proper afterlife system. Like “WEEEE, dragons, gods, elves and the ever-present reminder that life is fleeting and that death is truly the end.” Y’know, my all my favorites. Like, the primordials (dragons included) are the highest tier of immortality in this universe and even they’re not invulnerable. (Primordials can be revived but they can still die and stay dead)
“Only Vash can give them oblivion.” Wait, so is there nothing after death in this universe? No afterlife or anything?
…that’s disconcerting.
With already having gods and soul stuff, actual afterlife may have been a bit too big a bite to chew, or was just something that red didn’t want incorporated into her fantasy.
You familiar with the Earthsea cycle? Really great fantasy. But one of the concepts of it is that the afterlife should not be attained, that true immortality is found through the eternal cycle of souls returning to the earth from whence they came. I propose that oblivion here means something similar. Just returning your soul to be reborn or something.
Red has said on either Tumbr or Discord that when people die their souls unravels and becomes a part of the ambient soul energy so yeah, no afterlife
Yikes, that’s a less than reassuring fate to meet. But thanks for the confirmation.
(I get that some people would be more comfortable with it than others, just… not me, fam)
Can we give my boy a peaceful nap?
it’s kinda cool how Kendal refers to summoning Vash into “His” body. He’s starting to see himself as his own person!!
I thought Kendal’s dream was quite wonderful art/literature. The Universe may not care about humans in general but you should respect your art. I am sure Indigo and Yellow can show you a long list of your fans who hope you don’t disrespect or dismiss your own art and work. Thwap me about the head and shoulders if you must but trust your friends when they tell you you are greatly respected and admired by many many people!
Oof. “They’ve been gone my whole life”, that hits the feels. He has so much of Vash’s knowledge, but it must be like hearing a story. Somehow that’s so…sad.
This page is so beautiful; the shading on Alinua in panel 7 is really gorgeous! And IS Kendal wearing one of Erin’s shirts? Because it really looks like one of Erin’s shirts, draping sleeves and all.
Kendal and his friend discuss the strange dream he had
Mysterious ghosts helped him feel a whole lot less sad
They stuck around somehow, they are still hanging on
They needed Vash to bring them to oblivion
I wanted to say something on the end of act 1 but i forgot, so i’ll just say here that I really, really enjoy this series and I’m excited to see what else it has in store
Anonymous Aurora Question #50: What would the Aurora age of retirement be?
oh, god, concidering the differing races in Aurora, I think each one would have a different one depending on their lifespan, but if we’re talking about regular ol’ humans than I think a few years older than what is in our world. Concidering they have, ya know.
La Magique.
I think it would depend on the city or community’s priorities, and those of the local god. Those seem to take precedence, in the Aurora world, over things that are usually regulated by nation-states IRL. So it probably varies widely, unless there’s a sort of common-law tradition that’s culture-wide.
It depends on the local economy and personal wealth, seeing as how this is a pre-globalised world. Basically, a person retires whenever they can afford to AND want to, and that depends on their profession, class, etc, much like in real life. But this is only the case for a particular type of society (retirement, as an ‘after-working-life’, is an incredibly capitalist concept) and the world of Aurora is far more accommodating to more varied societal structures than we see in real life (due to each settlement having it’s own god and government).
For example, an Aseran retirement is likely very different to an Ignan one; from what we saw of Dainix’s backstory, Ignan elders become spiritual leaders of their communities, so it’s unlikely that ‘retirement’ even exists as we understand it in a Western sense. Elders might continue contributing in different roles, like education and logistics instead of labour and expeditions. Meanwhile, the Ruunasers’ affluence implies a significant class system in Asera, with a younger working class shouldering the burden of the economy while older or richer individuals retire in the traditional sense.
I get the idea that there isn’t set jobs and pensions in this world, so it’s probably as soon as you have enough money to sustain yourself or as soon as you come to terms with living in the jungle with the chimeras 🙂
“They’ve been gone my whole life”
-Has only been sentient for like a month
He said “my body” :,)
Wait, he did! I totally missed that! AAAAAA THE CHARACTER GROWTH IS REAL
I wonder if those souls are not bound to the ruins of the city, but reside within Kendal himself. They literally live on through him.
TL;DR: Swordman the prophet???