2.3.37
on December 23, 2024
at 3:00 am
you are now leaving the Non-Diegetic Fire Zone, please leave a five star review if you were satisfied with your divine wisdom
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
you are now leaving the Non-Diegetic Fire Zone, please leave a five star review if you were satisfied with your divine wisdom
interesting… new info acquired
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: me when there’s a charcuterie board on the menu if I’m being honest
Image source: crucible
. “To the Dragon, hunger is fundamentally selfish. It clings and devours and is never satisfied. It doesn’t even know what it’s so desperate to have. If you let this form of hunger poison you further, it’ll devour you from the inside or reshape you into its own insatiable image.
. “When you fought it, you transmuted its attacks as they passed through you. Nicely done, by the way. Excellent reflexes.” Tahraim smiles, resting his hammer across his shoulders. “But if you want to get this stuff out of you now that it’s taken root, you’ll have to learn how to do that on purpose.
. “Reach inside yourself. Touch the Void and feel the potential the Dragon neglects.
. “Is destruction innate to the material of hunger, or is it just the form that hunger has shaped itself into?
. “Melt it down. Burn away all traces of its past forging and transmute it in the crucible of your soul until you refine its purest form. And when you hold the essence of hunger, stripped of pretense and pride–”
. Dainix looks up, seeing Falst standing on the deck a few feet away, the fire-space gone, as Tahraim’s last words echo in his head.
. “I wonder if you’ll recognize the feeling?”
The Smith God encourages to refine Void
See the truth that is more than destruction deployed
Thinking about the last panel, and now I wonder: Is the essence of hunger desire? Or want, or whatever pretentious word we use? ‘Cause the implication is that it has something to do with how Dainix feels about Falst. (Desire in this case in whatever form, so for Dainix maybe something like the desire to help Falst.) What do y’all think?
The thought crossing my mind is that the core element of hunger might be *nutrition*. After all, it’s been heavily implied that the missing element that the Void Dragon has implanted in living creatures, but which is missing in homunculuses created from the six elements known to most mages, is the ability to incorporate new matter into themselves in order to maintain their bodies.
Walter interprets that purely through a selfish lens – “I will make everything into part of myself” – but providing nutrition to others might also be within the domain. Furthermore, given that each of the well-known elements has a physical manifestation and a metaphysical one, it’s possible that Walter doesn’t just represent physical nutrition, but spiritual nutrition. Which could include things like friendship, caring for others, and being cared for when needed.
If it turns out that the Soul Monks CAN help with the Void Dragon, that might be part of the key – a mystical organisation (that isn’t already dedicated to some other entity) might be sufficiently in tune with their own spirituality to be able to invoke that side of the ‘hunger’ domain.
I agree with Draxynic, I think at its core hunger is the need for something.
The Void dragon doesn’t see that because he is too proud and arrogant to need anything, so he simply takes everything he can and destroys it. But without that presence, needing something becomes as simple as asking or accepting help. I think Tahraim’s implication is less about Dainix’s desire to help Falst being similarly to hunger, but rather that the feeling, needing help and connection, is something Dainix would be familiar with by seeing it is Falst. Likewise in the same way he helped Falst, Falst is now here to help him.
Was Void the Power of Love all along? I must say that would be hilarious.
panel 1 “It doesn’t even know what it’s so desperate to have”
Hear me out lore guys, the Void element’s true form is the despair of going out with friends but no one knows what they want to eat
I laughed uncomfortably loudly at this, too loud for 4am. *glances around*
SCP (insert number) is now coming for you.
Ah, that’s sweet.
Tahraim’s the sort of deity to see a world ending threat and ask ‘is anyone gonna redeem that?’, then actually wait for an answer because they’re genuinely interested.
I susspect he also sees Dainix as Fire being reborn or maybe just recovering as an avitar / personification.
Light and void are the same. Erin was right, there is no eigth element. Anything the void dragon can do the light dragon can, because they are equal and opposite.
Both are, I think, wanting, needing and aspiring towards something. Where Void scrabbles for scraps, Light reaches for the stars.
This is such an amazing theory and it’s worded so beautifully, I wish there where like buttons on comments
“Where Void scrabbles for scraps, Light reaches for the stars” OMG THAT’S SO POETIC
Poetic but -motions to the void dragon literally trying to eat stars- not accurate. I think they are onto something but I don’t think that’s the difference between them.
To be fair, I think voidy’s reaching for the stars too. (They taste good and he’s hungry.)
The dragon hungers, to kill everybody and destroy everything that exists. The crucible hungers for something else. Fire is often seen as destructive and violent, and this opinion is not incorrect, however fire is also a beacon, it is warmth and light, and helps to protect that which you love. And sometimes, the answer is right in front of you. *Winks*
It’s 5:00 am it’s too early for this cryptid crap AND YOU AREN’T HELPING! -Sulkily sips hot chocolate- also if that logic is correct I’m pretty sure the philosophic lesson of the day is that desire isn’t bad. Literally just replace hunger with desire and would you look at that. Well it kinda works. You made two points about hungering then one about how fire can protect which is like me going “collector desires to have souls, Kendal wants to save everyone, and did you know Kendal has starfire” which feels very off topic.
Is the feeling love? Is that what it is? Is that the divine wisdom? The power of love? I’m good with it; I just want to know.
Tahrim is implying that Void is an impure form of hunger, and that Dainix can melt it into it’s pure form. He also implied that he’s already done it on reflex before. This means that Void is actually an impure form of Light, rather than both of them being direct equals. I’m incredibly intrigued by the implications of this in regards to both VD and LD’s creation though. If LD is the pure form, then what happened to birth VD?
Also, throwing my guess into the mix, I think hunger might actually be protection/preservation. We see LD’s whole thing be protecting others, and hunger serves to replenish and preserve a body. Side note: I wonder if we’ll get to see Dainix sharing this wildly scientifically important thing with Erin, and if so, how long it will take until both of them have a chance to talk about it. My guess around Halloween 2025 when they are recovering from the assault of the Collector, which is assuming any of the protagonists get to catch their breath within the next 5 chapters
The paladins seem more about getting rid of anything Void related than protecting. The Lady is perfectly willing to kill anyone if it slows down the dragon some.
Wait so if void is the element that love is derived from (or at least sexual love) is that why Kendal is ace?
No. No it is not. Kendal is ace because he’s ace. There doesn’t have to be a deeper meaning.
What? What are you talking about. Why would someone write that?
1) No. 2) I get where you’re coming from, but. No.
What? Wait, where did you get the idea that void is sexual love? Now I’m confused. Also no, Kendal is ace just because he’s ace. There doesn’t have to be anything deeper than that.
Now to lama past aught that is nay fire. Ooooooooowwwwwwwwww.
Might we all just take a moment to appreciate those waves in the background?
I wonder if we’re going the same route as the “true meaning of greed” in the last chapters of FMA
That’s the same thought I had…
Tahraim continues to be peak
Dainix: … I feel … the festive spirit of Brennsday?
Tahraim: … Eh, close enough.
So, his transmutation of that Void in Zuurith was an instinctual response to being attacked? That makes sense, and explains why his interaction with Void now, with him being the attacker rashly transmuting a Light shield, is so different.
This whole conversation has me convinced that Tahraim’s forging of Dainix for Caliban is still ongoing; encouraging him to get out of prison himself was just part one of many. Next part: upgrade his transmutation power from subconscious instinct to conscious intent.
An entire element and higher property with untold potential to shape the world and how people live their lives, and all V.D. sees it as is a means for him to devour stars. Tahraim has said before how he hates waste, and I’m betting he must hate how V.D. squanders this power. I wonder if he may be secretly excited by the possibility of a Void mage in Erin.
Now there’s an interesting thought. Is L.D.’s essence transmuted Void into a new substance, or is it a purer version of what Void could be if not under the control of V.D.? It could represent bodily hunger, but could it also be longing for companionship, family, to want experiences shared with others and to share back? One feeds the body, another the mind and soul. Maybe L.D. awoke the mortal wills not in spite of Void present in them, but because of it.
Void could be like any other element, only as good or evil as the wielder, were it not for V.D. still exerting his influence on it. Probably just as well Life is keeping a mostly hands-off approach to her element.
Aurora Question #30: What are your personal feelings on Tahraim and his character?
I love Tahraim! I feel like he plays the role of the almost-always-absent-mentor to Danix, and mentors nearly always end up being my favorite characters. He knows stuff and is mysterious about it but still tells Danix (and us!) all kinds of fun things. And like all fun characters, he’s mysterious 🙂
10/10 he’s great and 1 of my favorites. Riddles are fun! Sometimes! Some days I’ll probably won’t to punch him in the face but I’m pretty sure that’s just part of the experience of loving the cryptic mentor. So he’s perfect really!
He’s weird, but not weird enough for me to like.
Tahraim and Vash are neck and neck for my favorite god characters, and Tahraim is just a bit further ahead. He’s consistently funny, is one of the most mysterious characters because he knows quite a bit about the Dragon, and (if I’m getting this right) he is the only mortal to have become a god. Also his first scene with Dainix, specifically the part about burning away rage and guilt, is probably my favorite Dainix scene.
10/10 love that guy
I love Tahraim! He’s honestly one of my favorite gods in any media I’ve ever consumed. Especially paired with Caliban? Best duo. I’ve always been drawn to smiting gods for some reason, and the fact that he’s also taking on a bit of a mentor figure (like @somone who loves dragons said) just makes it better!
Tahraim might be my favorite character in this series. The mixture of “helpful, empathetic, and calm under pressure” with “stubbornly cryptic and infuriatingly useless” makes him incredibly charming to me. I’m so happy every time he’s on screen.
I also find Erin’s sheer hubris and scholarly moments highly entertaining, and the existential crisis Life presents makes me insane. The other party members are amazing characters (Kendal is my third favorite fantasy swordsman of all time), but Life, Tahraim, and Erin typically shuffle as my top three Aurora characters.
I’m starting to believe that even Red is shipping Dainix and Falst.
… just now?
They’ve blushed at each other a couple times (well, Falst has at Dainix), and they had a little misunderstanding in one of the downtime chapters where Falst, blushing, apologized for holding Dainix’s hand. I would be very surprised if Red was not making them a ship.
Ah yes, hungry for cat-boy. A common emotion we are all familiar with.
Hunger is fire
Hunger is just wanting something and needing it at the same time, and that seems pretty fair to me.
Lust is
Thank you, sniper.
I definitely agree with what some other people have pointed out, that void represents want of some kind, not just hunger. Since the Light Dragon and Walter are opposites (or two sides of the same coin), maybe void is the want to protect yourself, and light is the want to protect others? I’m not 100% sure right now, but I’m excited to see what happens next in the comic. Tahraim was cool, there’s possibly a big sea snake thing fight coming up, Dainix and Falst are getting good screen time, the floof squad is at the volcano island place – overall, very exciting.
Transmutation, I think. Growth and change. Creation. Hunger is lacking something, and feeding it is transmutation.
Fire is already transmutation.
Attraction, the (potentially) less destructive form of fire.
Didn’t Red say somewhere that fire is transmutation, not destruction? Unless you meant to type void there instead of fire?
WHERE’S THE NEXT PAGE I WANT THE NEXT PAGE WHY DOES THIS FEEL LIKE A CLIFFHANGER I CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG?! (Take your time Red, I’m just getting excited now)
So Tahraim (enigmatic smith god) keeps referring to the Dragon as “it” and this confirms the Dragon in question is light one. This seemed off to me as I was pretty sure the Dragon was a she (the void Dragon seems more like an it), but on reflection (going back over a lot of comics) I think Kendal has a prophetic inkling that “She is coming” before the Champion/Paladin shows up. The Champion is by his bio a he, but there is of course the mysterious Lady Huracan, who may also be acting as an intermediary between the light Dragon and the Paladins including the Champion. Lady Huracan is a she (but also a they). So maybe Tehraim’s pronoun is correct or maybe he’s just a jerk who can say?
Hhhhhhuh.
Interesting…
Does that imply that the Light Dragon is devoid of love?
MA’AM YOU CANNOT GO AND ALT TEXT *THAT* INTO ‘me when charcuterie’ LIKE BWH—– AKSDBFKL;AJSDGHFH