“Excuse me–” Alinua says, having come over to them, “I don’t want to interrupt, but I couldn’t help but notice… if you’ve been injured, I might be able to–”
“Oh!” Tarren interrupts. “HA!” Alinua draws back, looking startled. “Sorry, sorry. It’s a kind offer, miss!” Tarren says, getting their giggling under control. “But every kind soul seems to think they’re the first who’s ever thought to help me.
“My link to Water can’t fully close on its own. Years of energy buildup means loose joints.”
“Oh,” Alinua says. “I- I’m sorry.”
“Nobody’s fault!” Tarren says cheerfully. “Plus I can do some great party tricks now!”
“Please don’t,” Erin mutters, as Tarren demonstrates by folding their thumb back.
Meanwhile, Tess and Falst are standing by the mast. Falst is leaning on a box, and Tess is standing with one hand on the metal ring around the mast.
“Huh. No ladder,” Falst remarks.
“Not like we need one, right?” Tess asks looking up, lightning sparking around her tattoo.
“Well, maybe–” Falst starts, before ducking down as Tess bolts up in a burst of lightning. Erin, who had been leaning on the metal guardrail, suddenly starts, lightning lancing through him.
“Ooh, I hadn’t even considered that,” says Tarren. “I’ll make sure the handrails on the next one are insulated.”
“Happy to help,” Erin chokes out as Alinua rushes towards him with her healing powers ready.
“View’s good!” Tess shouts down from the top of the mast.
“That’s a relief,” Falst grumbles as Kendal and Dainix come by, transporting a box to the hold.
Chekhov’s gun spotted, now we gotta guess when will it be fired
Or maybe I’m seeing foreshadowing even where there isn’t any and that was just a gag based on Tarren’s mad scientist-ness and Tess’ ADHD iconitude. At Erin’s expense, of course, because Falst was busy
I can definitely see a future story moment where the ship is surrounded by sea monsters or something and Tess just cracks her knuckles like “This’ll be fun”
Also, Kendal is holding the crate in the middle while Dainix is grabbing the far edge, which means Kendal basically carrying the thing on his own but Dainix just really wanted to help XD
Well, a lot of times it’s not that something is too heavy to carry, it’s just hard to get a grip in the right spot to balance it and you need a second person to handle the other end. The old “It’s not heavy, it’s just awkward” thing.
While Tarren discusses their damaged joints
With well-intentioned Alinua,
Tess leaps up the mast with lightning, which conducts
To the hull and shocks her brother.
Eww! I zoomed in on panel 6 to see Tarren’s party trick with his thumb; that was a mistake.
Don’t worry Alinua, at least you might be able to apply some heals to Erin. Helping people, through action or inaction, has been Alinua’s modus operandi for years, and she’s only just starting to think what she wants for herself. Pitting Shrike against her makes sense thematically as her modus operandi and current thoughts seem to be the exact opposite.
Hmm, their eventual clash and potential conversations might actually end up improving both their outlooks.
So the metal hull means unpleasant lightning experiences … and they’re potentially sailing into storms. Tess better practice staying up on the mast in case they need a lightning rod.
I’ve said it before, but this journey across the sea is where the gang may be at their weakest: Alinua can’t grow her more impressive plants without ground; Tess must be careful with her lightning due to the metal hull, plus she can’t swim well; Dainix and Kendal need to be careful with fire due to the wooden interior; and Falst’s attacks are limited and he’s still injured. Isn’t helped by the fact that, outside of storms, we have little to no idea what they’re going to encounter on this voyage.
Whoops! Missed that, I meant “them”.
I guess I more thoroughly pronoun check when the subject is part of a theory paragraph instead of a first line joke.
@Evil Tree I would not underestimate Alinua’s plant growth at sea if I were in your shoes (pause and listen for Red to chuckle evilly in anticipation), You see trouble where I see opportunities for shenanigans…
People viewing on phones can see the alt text by pressing and holding on the page. I haven’t found a way to see the image source yet, so good work to the people putting those out.
I interpret it as, “oh that’s so gross, please don’t, I don’t want to see it”. Based on my friends with hypermobility issues, who like to gross people out for fun.
I wonder just how many times Tess has inadvertently zapped Erin throughout their lives. It’s beautiful how the two groups are in their own entirely separate orbits, yet Tess still managed to zap her brother and only her brother.
You see, the bond between siblings is a special brand of super sense: which allows all randomly let out punching potential to somehow make its way to the other sibling 🙂
HOW DID I MISS THREE PAGES COMING OUT???
Well, I’m up to date now, ig
I love the dynamic between Tarren and Erin, I think that and the Erin-Tess dynamic may be my favourite
Thank you for snarky commentary well timed Falst! (panel 9). Alinua for the save please! (or at least salve owwies)! So much fun packed in one panel! Delicious! Thanks Red!
Omg the ehlers-danlos representation!! Just wait until Tarren subluxes a rib and goes “Oh, oops,” pops it back in, and goes about their day while everyone else stands there like “Are you… are you okay?”
Are you going to be counting the lightning-shield strikes or just the times he got hit directly? Because counting strikes on the lightning shield would tick that number up by… at least two, I think? You probably won’t but just mentioning it. I don’t think the paralyzing thing while in the Caves to stop VD would count, because that’s not a strike it’s just channeling lightning throughout his body…
Sorry I’m rambling a little 😅
Just wanted to get that thought out there
see I was thinking the other wya around. It hit the shield which Erin made expressly so that things that would hit him failed to do so. Yet the shocks while trying to stop VD do count since they “connected” to him. Not so much a “lightning strike” counter as it is a “zap” counter.
Plus – I’m really worried that Kendal is going to plummet if he falls off the ship. That floofy boi is solid! …but then he might be able to run & get speed up to jump back to the surface if they are in shallow-enough water.
WATER-BENDER! I’ve been wondering when we’d see the other elementals represented: Alinua: life, Kendal: the area-specific gods, Erin: voidy, Dainix: fire, Tess: lightning, Falst: umm… i don’t immediately remember what his connection is, but I think it was earth? We need the Acolyte of light, and that’s a nearly full set, right?
Is the Collector like Erin in that she can move more than one element? We’ve seen her move stone and affect life (chimeras). Can she do all of them? How does Voidy feel about her? Would Voidy have more in common with her, or is there some reason she’s not a manifestation of Voidy as well as the other things she’s got going?
Based on strip 1.22.37 Falst appears to maybe have some kind of Light connection?
The Collector only does Life, but she can apparently use it to “heal” other elements, which is how she appeared to do Stone magic at Vash and Zuurith (ref ch. 1-11 and ch 2-1) – she “healed” the injuries to Stone’s body where the cities were/are.
When we last saw Falst use magic it looked to be whatever the Lady is up to (Soul/Light magic?). You’ll remember the dragon claw thingy he summoned in chapter 22?
The stone moving was actually a very clever use of Life magic. She didn’t move the stone but “healed” Stone’s body. She is purely a life mage, although she is as far beyond a Life mage as Kendal is beyond humans.
Tarren reminds me of my irl friends with EDS, one of whom likes to show off that he can dislocate his shoulder and lay his arm straight across his shoulders.
I love the shots of Tarren’s eyes through their goggles! Poor Erin’s face in the last panel is priceless, but the utter lack of concern from both himself AND Tarren tells me him coming out the worse from their experiments is a semi-frequent thing XD
That “But has Tarren tried yoga-*gunshots*” comment killed me. I’m a person with hypermobility issues who messed up her hips badly doing yoga and still lives with the consequences. My doctor told me in no uncertain terms that I am NOT to do yoga.
In Alinua’s defence, the kind souls who all think they’re the first to offer help generally don’t have primordial eldritch forces of nature on speed dial. Considering how it went with Kendall, who knows what she might be capable of
rewriting how Tarren’s body heals/regulates. It s definitely more sophisticated than what Alinua has practice with, but is within her theoretical ability (also “magicking” away an aspect of this person’s life may be a bit disingenuous, so I doubt Red would have that happen).
Cool party trick with the thumb! Once again, loving Tarren, and I appreciate the way their hypermobility disability is handled. Agreed that Alinua’s instinct to want to help is understandable, given Life is at her fingertips, but I can imagine Tarren gets that a lot and can imagine how that must get tiresome. They responded good-naturedly, though.
Oh gee. A boat with a highly conductive railing heading into stormy seas. Surely that can’t cause problems or hiccups of any kind. (Also: Awh. Poor Erin.)
I like how Dainix went to help Kendal but Kendal is clearly still bearing a majority of the box’s weight.
Zoom in on Kendal’s face in panel nine. The lack of facial details makes him look almost like a chibi. Just staring at his face, maybe it’s the artist in me but I can almost see that as him begging for something nonverbally, taken out of context.
It took me a minute to realize the “has Tarren tried yoga” on a meta level could be Blue’s wife who I think on an OSP podcast or video talked about her crutches having names?
“Every kind soul thinks they’re the first to try and help”…
So I kinda think this “bit” humorously written is like a PSA either or both based on conversations Red saw or had?
IF* Alinua is a Red self insert (a fan theory I do support based on great hair don’t care) then she put her foot in her mouth at some point
&/or she has seen multiple people suggest yoga as a panacea, a cure all on par with the philosophers stone
Also I did a lot of yoga and probably no definitely said “have you tried yoga”
They’re gonna have to put some ladders in, Falst is right. I’m really appreciating his practicality and powers of observation: Terren should ask *him* to suggest modifications.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: and the “times erin has been zapped” counter ticks steadily upwards
Image source: interrupt
tumblr text: just a little casual chatting
Twitter text: a conversation they’ve heard before
“Excuse me–” Alinua says, having come over to them, “I don’t want to interrupt, but I couldn’t help but notice… if you’ve been injured, I might be able to–”
“Oh!” Tarren interrupts. “HA!” Alinua draws back, looking startled. “Sorry, sorry. It’s a kind offer, miss!” Tarren says, getting their giggling under control. “But every kind soul seems to think they’re the first who’s ever thought to help me.
“My link to Water can’t fully close on its own. Years of energy buildup means loose joints.”
“Oh,” Alinua says. “I- I’m sorry.”
“Nobody’s fault!” Tarren says cheerfully. “Plus I can do some great party tricks now!”
“Please don’t,” Erin mutters, as Tarren demonstrates by folding their thumb back.
Meanwhile, Tess and Falst are standing by the mast. Falst is leaning on a box, and Tess is standing with one hand on the metal ring around the mast.
“Huh. No ladder,” Falst remarks.
“Not like we need one, right?” Tess asks looking up, lightning sparking around her tattoo.
“Well, maybe–” Falst starts, before ducking down as Tess bolts up in a burst of lightning. Erin, who had been leaning on the metal guardrail, suddenly starts, lightning lancing through him.
“Ooh, I hadn’t even considered that,” says Tarren. “I’ll make sure the handrails on the next one are insulated.”
“Happy to help,” Erin chokes out as Alinua rushes towards him with her healing powers ready.
“View’s good!” Tess shouts down from the top of the mast.
“That’s a relief,” Falst grumbles as Kendal and Dainix come by, transporting a box to the hold.
for mobile readers
alt text: and the “times erin has been zapped counter” counter ticks steadily upwards
image source: interrupt
eyyyy tarren has water magic induced EDS hell yeah (well. hell yeah isn’t exactly what i’d use for eds but,,, yknow. representation etc etc)
aww wait does Tarren have fantasy EDS 🙂
Certainly seems like it
As someone who was recently diagnosed with hEDS this page made me cry
Chekhov’s gun spotted, now we gotta guess when will it be fired
Or maybe I’m seeing foreshadowing even where there isn’t any and that was just a gag based on Tarren’s mad scientist-ness and Tess’ ADHD iconitude. At Erin’s expense, of course, because Falst was busy
I can definitely see a future story moment where the ship is surrounded by sea monsters or something and Tess just cracks her knuckles like “This’ll be fun”
Bunch of birds perched on the railing, only for Tess to zap them away 😛
I was gonna say nah, this won’t be important later but good lord I want this to happen so bad now.
LMAO POOR ERIN
Look at his little face in panel 9, it’s great!
(Also great username, I love that book!)
THANKS OMG I LOVE FINDING NEVERENDING STORY FANS
I love Dainix trying to help Kendal carry a crate, as if Kendal didn’t have a reasonable chance at bench-pressing the whole ship.
Also, Kendal is holding the crate in the middle while Dainix is grabbing the far edge, which means Kendal basically carrying the thing on his own but Dainix just really wanted to help XD
Well, a lot of times it’s not that something is too heavy to carry, it’s just hard to get a grip in the right spot to balance it and you need a second person to handle the other end. The old “It’s not heavy, it’s just awkward” thing.
Also, the crate is very tall, so Kendal.probably can’t see where he’s going over it! Dainix may be simply finding him where to put it.
I like the idea that he just jumped in to keep Alinua from getting TOO anxious over Kendal, though :p
*guiding. Stupid phone.
Really good observations here!
Tarren reveals hyperflexible hands
And Tess decks Erin as she the mast commands
While Tarren discusses their damaged joints
With well-intentioned Alinua,
Tess leaps up the mast with lightning, which conducts
To the hull and shocks her brother.
Eww! I zoomed in on panel 6 to see Tarren’s party trick with his thumb; that was a mistake.
Don’t worry Alinua, at least you might be able to apply some heals to Erin. Helping people, through action or inaction, has been Alinua’s modus operandi for years, and she’s only just starting to think what she wants for herself. Pitting Shrike against her makes sense thematically as her modus operandi and current thoughts seem to be the exact opposite.
Hmm, their eventual clash and potential conversations might actually end up improving both their outlooks.
So the metal hull means unpleasant lightning experiences … and they’re potentially sailing into storms. Tess better practice staying up on the mast in case they need a lightning rod.
I’ve said it before, but this journey across the sea is where the gang may be at their weakest: Alinua can’t grow her more impressive plants without ground; Tess must be careful with her lightning due to the metal hull, plus she can’t swim well; Dainix and Kendal need to be careful with fire due to the wooden interior; and Falst’s attacks are limited and he’s still injured. Isn’t helped by the fact that, outside of storms, we have little to no idea what they’re going to encounter on this voyage.
Tarren’s pronouns are they/them!
Whoops! Missed that, I meant “them”.
I guess I more thoroughly pronoun check when the subject is part of a theory paragraph instead of a first line joke.
@Evil Tree I would not underestimate Alinua’s plant growth at sea if I were in your shoes (pause and listen for Red to chuckle evilly in anticipation), You see trouble where I see opportunities for shenanigans…
Despite your warning, I also zoomed in to panel 6. I now enforce the belief that nobody should zoom in on said panel.
I love Tess.
Now that the most important thing has been said, oh, Erin’s face as he gets zapped! Teeheee.
People viewing on phones can see the alt text by pressing and holding on the page. I haven’t found a way to see the image source yet, so good work to the people putting those out.
I can hear the concern in Erin’s voice in panel 6. This implies that Tarren has done this before and that Erin is worried about them.
I interpret it as, “oh that’s so gross, please don’t, I don’t want to see it”. Based on my friends with hypermobility issues, who like to gross people out for fun.
as someone with a hypermobility disorder, i can confirm that yoga only makes it worse
points at Tarren’s hand. HA! I DO THAT!
Tarren is pretty insuppressible alright. Do you share that feature with them? (smile)
I wonder just how many times Tess has inadvertently zapped Erin throughout their lives. It’s beautiful how the two groups are in their own entirely separate orbits, yet Tess still managed to zap her brother and only her brother.
You see, the bond between siblings is a special brand of super sense: which allows all randomly let out punching potential to somehow make its way to the other sibling 🙂
Tess: ZzzzzAtzzT! You’re very grounding.
Erin: …haha.
HOW DID I MISS THREE PAGES COMING OUT???
Well, I’m up to date now, ig
I love the dynamic between Tarren and Erin, I think that and the Erin-Tess dynamic may be my favourite
Thank you for snarky commentary well timed Falst! (panel 9). Alinua for the save please! (or at least salve owwies)! So much fun packed in one panel! Delicious! Thanks Red!
Erin’s face in the last panel, my poor guy!
Also good thing that Tess is there to absorb any lightning that comes their way, storms in a non-insulated ship could get really nasty.
it is not possible for a thing to happen without erin getting hurt by it
So Tarren basically has magic-induced EDS?
Omg the ehlers-danlos representation!! Just wait until Tarren subluxes a rib and goes “Oh, oops,” pops it back in, and goes about their day while everyone else stands there like “Are you… are you okay?”
please PLEASE let that be a running gag the entire time they’re on the boat
this is beautiful and now i need to reread the comic to find out how many times erin has actually been zapped (onscreen, that is)
Are you going to be counting the lightning-shield strikes or just the times he got hit directly? Because counting strikes on the lightning shield would tick that number up by… at least two, I think? You probably won’t but just mentioning it. I don’t think the paralyzing thing while in the Caves to stop VD would count, because that’s not a strike it’s just channeling lightning throughout his body…
Sorry I’m rambling a little 😅
Just wanted to get that thought out there
see I was thinking the other wya around. It hit the shield which Erin made expressly so that things that would hit him failed to do so. Yet the shocks while trying to stop VD do count since they “connected” to him. Not so much a “lightning strike” counter as it is a “zap” counter.
Ahhh I see. Gotta love some Cyan inspired disability rep.
THIS! This so hard! But =ouchies!=
Plus – I’m really worried that Kendal is going to plummet if he falls off the ship. That floofy boi is solid! …but then he might be able to run & get speed up to jump back to the surface if they are in shallow-enough water.
WATER-BENDER! I’ve been wondering when we’d see the other elementals represented: Alinua: life, Kendal: the area-specific gods, Erin: voidy, Dainix: fire, Tess: lightning, Falst: umm… i don’t immediately remember what his connection is, but I think it was earth? We need the Acolyte of light, and that’s a nearly full set, right?
Is the Collector like Erin in that she can move more than one element? We’ve seen her move stone and affect life (chimeras). Can she do all of them? How does Voidy feel about her? Would Voidy have more in common with her, or is there some reason she’s not a manifestation of Voidy as well as the other things she’s got going?
Based on strip 1.22.37 Falst appears to maybe have some kind of Light connection?
The Collector only does Life, but she can apparently use it to “heal” other elements, which is how she appeared to do Stone magic at Vash and Zuurith (ref ch. 1-11 and ch 2-1) – she “healed” the injuries to Stone’s body where the cities were/are.
When we last saw Falst use magic it looked to be whatever the Lady is up to (Soul/Light magic?). You’ll remember the dragon claw thingy he summoned in chapter 22?
The stone moving was actually a very clever use of Life magic. She didn’t move the stone but “healed” Stone’s body. She is purely a life mage, although she is as far beyond a Life mage as Kendal is beyond humans.
Tarren reminds me of my irl friends with EDS, one of whom likes to show off that he can dislocate his shoulder and lay his arm straight across his shoulders.
I FUCKING LOVE FALST <<<<<<<333
Look at tarred hand in panel six, he is performing said party trick
Hi I would like you to know that I love this story and its characters
Okay thanks for your time
I love the shots of Tarren’s eyes through their goggles! Poor Erin’s face in the last panel is priceless, but the utter lack of concern from both himself AND Tarren tells me him coming out the worse from their experiments is a semi-frequent thing XD
I’m surprised the “times Erin has been zapped” counter is so low, considering his sister’s lightning powers.
That “But has Tarren tried yoga-*gunshots*” comment killed me. I’m a person with hypermobility issues who messed up her hips badly doing yoga and still lives with the consequences. My doctor told me in no uncertain terms that I am NOT to do yoga.
TL;DR: Just trying to help, I’m sorr–
*Pikachu used volt tackle*
The subject has been changed!
Loose joints? Can do ‘party tricks’? This looks familiar, my wife has hypermobility issues, though thankfully she is not that badly off.
In Alinua’s defence, the kind souls who all think they’re the first to offer help generally don’t have primordial eldritch forces of nature on speed dial. Considering how it went with Kendall, who knows what she might be capable of
rewriting how Tarren’s body heals/regulates. It s definitely more sophisticated than what Alinua has practice with, but is within her theoretical ability (also “magicking” away an aspect of this person’s life may be a bit disingenuous, so I doubt Red would have that happen).
Cool party trick with the thumb! Once again, loving Tarren, and I appreciate the way their hypermobility disability is handled. Agreed that Alinua’s instinct to want to help is understandable, given Life is at her fingertips, but I can imagine Tarren gets that a lot and can imagine how that must get tiresome. They responded good-naturedly, though.
Oh gee. A boat with a highly conductive railing heading into stormy seas. Surely that can’t cause problems or hiccups of any kind. (Also: Awh. Poor Erin.)
I like how Dainix went to help Kendal but Kendal is clearly still bearing a majority of the box’s weight.
Hhhmmmm… Chekov’s Lighting Conductor?
My party trick is turning my feet backwards (much to everyone’s dismay and horror)
dont worry about the lightning- Erin is charging up for the next boss fight
Zoom in on Kendal’s face in panel nine. The lack of facial details makes him look almost like a chibi. Just staring at his face, maybe it’s the artist in me but I can almost see that as him begging for something nonverbally, taken out of context.
True sibling energy. Managing to injure her brother despite being nowhere near him.
Really interesting implications there about all the different things long term magic usage can do
It took me a minute to realize the “has Tarren tried yoga” on a meta level could be Blue’s wife who I think on an OSP podcast or video talked about her crutches having names?
“Every kind soul thinks they’re the first to try and help”…
So I kinda think this “bit” humorously written is like a PSA either or both based on conversations Red saw or had?
IF* Alinua is a Red self insert (a fan theory I do support based on great hair don’t care) then she put her foot in her mouth at some point
&/or she has seen multiple people suggest yoga as a panacea, a cure all on par with the philosophers stone
Also I did a lot of yoga and probably no definitely said “have you tried yoga”
After some thought and Kendal having lines in the next panel I was thinking Kendal could be Red’s self insert;
Both have Great hair; Don’t care
I ended up on my original opinion based on costume:
Kendal has a shirt with sleeves
Alinua = Suns out; Guns out
Also Red seems like one who overthinks
That is not Kendal
Erin being zapped will never not be funny.
They’re gonna have to put some ladders in, Falst is right. I’m really appreciating his practicality and powers of observation: Terren should ask *him* to suggest modifications.
HAHAHAHA ok this ones also one of my favorite moments