Yayy, sibling love!
Tess is the best.
Unless my first thought when I saw the final panel comes true and she does drop the ceiling on Erin. I think those runes do something else tho, I just can’t tell what. We’ll see on monday.
Who am I kidding, we’ll see today when someone kindly posts a translation
Best I can gather from the last two panels is “alseals” so I’m guessing it says “seal” over and over again. Granted, my sibling is the translator wiz between the two of us and might be able to parse more from the 3rd to last panel, but they’re asleep so you’re stuck with me for now. 😛
Tess was hanging from the ceiling when the VD broke off the piece of the ceiling they were attached to. It didn’t fall because electricity is stronger than gravity, and Tess forced it back in to place, then welded it there.
What else were you expecting? Void dragon to pull out some random deus ex machina to keep the fight going? Risk killing Erin just to take out Tess? There really weren’t many ways this could’ve gone
Not related to today’s comic but I recently realized something:
The Collector:
– Several hundred years old at least; exact age unknown
– still actively researching how to commit omnicide
– probably knows more about Life magic than anyone save Primordial Life herself
– probably knows more about how souls work than literally everyone else
The mage who created the Ferin:
– active roughly one thousand years ago
– identity unknown
– ultimate fate unknown
– somehow created magic mutants that aren’t chimeras
– manipulated the way that said mutants’ souls are connected to magic (as Falst proved, soul channels not completely closed)
– skill at creating Ferin visibly improved over time, as if the magic was practicing something or experimenting with something.
Coincidence? Probably. I realize that this theory has probably been brought up before, but here it is anyway.
And I think the current theory (or at least my theory) is the Ferin Mage was a Paladin, trying to make it so that V.D. couldn’t have a vessel. They acted like they were doing the cursed a favor, any children with at least one Ferin parent are always Ferin (Trying to make it so eventually, no mages would exist), and Ferin are magically inert (except maybe Light?)
That’s my theory too. The Ferin mage certainly had something to make their mutations stick; at first I thought it was Void, but after all the Light/Void connection theories and evidence, I think Paladin magic would do as well.
I don’t see the Ferin replacing all races and not eliminating mages entirely; they’ll always been some fringe elementally adapted humans and elves that will stay as they are. But one group they could one day supplant are unaltered humans i.e. the only group on the planet able to produce Elemental Maguses (Magi?). I could totally see a Paladin, either acting on their own or part of a more radical faction in the Paladins, using their magic with Life to make the curse as a misguided way to keep the dragon sealed.
Teeesss <3 Sibling love and relationship. And, she has SUCH style.
Also, dear Voidy… welcome to being in a physical body. 's a bit of a bother, innit? I'm sure inhabiting one and experiencing the world through it won't change your mind one bit, or make you annoyed ever again.
More like “The next morning”. Those cuts on Erin’s arms haven’t even begun to heal and he still desperately needs sleep. Void most likely possessed his body and started puppet-walking it the moment his muscles had the strength to bear his weight.
As far as we can tell, it’s been about 3 sefs (weeks) in-universe since the start of the comic. We haven’t seen the moons very clearly yet in Arc 2, so it’s hard to say exactly where we are on the timeline.
seriously thats such a delightful subversion. voidy makes the slightest appeal at being sympathetic, appealing to the ever-present urge to dunk on your sibling, and he rolls a 1!!! he forgot that no one is allowed to call ur sibling annoying except for u urself, and this particular comment is definitely something she refuses to entertain.
V.D.: His worst day, eh? You mean the day he-
Tess: Ah-ba-ba! Stop that! You are NOT having the last word. Just go.
I feel like I owe Tess an apology for thinking she was merely a punch mage; in my defence, I was judging a book by it’s very awesome cover. I love the latter half of this page, creating the runes from lighting, firing them precisely, then letting the magic happen. Fits nicely with how Tess “feels” lightning magic as she did in Zuurith; conceptualising the relevant runes then manifesting them could almost be seen as a natural evolution of that.
The whole act also looks amazing. The changes between panels 4 and 5, in both the shape of the lightning and the hand poses, communicates both purpose and concentration as she forms them. The symbols scorching into the ceiling, then losing their glow while the magic lights up is a great sequence too. I wonder if Tess’s use of this method, carving into rock like Falst rather than making an energy circle like Erin, is because she must or whether it’s simply her preference.
V.D. would see Erin as more trouble than he’s worth, wouldn’t he? If he could ditch Erin, a guy with the ideas, connections, friends, and resolve to deal with him, and find a new Elemental Magus, he would in a heartbeat. Good thing Tess won’t leave, and knows just what to do in this situation; Erin never had a chance at convincing her to leave him alone on this mission, did he?
Prediction for next week: Looks like V.D. has relented, for now; depending on how serious Erin’s tattoo damage is he might even be out for most of Helm. Notice the stone AND lightning magic glow around the runes in the final panel? While those runes were made via lightning, I think they are meant to invoke stone too as part of Tess’s treatment needed to help Erin’s overchannel. Depending on how complex this ritual is, it may even take up all of next week’s pages.
Maybe she uses physical runes because it’s less of a drain on her lifeforce? I’m assuming her Spark is essentially a metaphysical battery whose charge can be used as external lightning/lightning magic. Of course, by that logic, all Metal People (or at least the Thunderstruck Ones like Tess) are Lightning Mages and none are any other type of mage.
The “spark” is just when a metal person gets hit by lightning and it opens their soul channel to lightning, I think it works just like any other casting.
Re: why carve into stone-
Possibly to make the spell less temporary? Lets the runes stay without her needing to focus. Doesn’t act as its own energy source like a lacrima would, but likely that the point is to draw on the ambient energy around Erin and siphon it away, preventing him from continuing to channel and corrupt himself.
They’re not invoking anything. They just say “seal”, so these runes are just sealing away any and all elemental energy, stopping it from reaching Erin’s body and thus stopping him from channeling magic. All Tess needs is a way to heal/repair the tats for this to be resolved smoothly.
@Dadycool, that’s not how magic works in this setting. Check the Extra Lore pages in the tab above for a more detailed explanation. As for the Spark, it’s just a way that metalcaste describe having a sense of self and agency. Also, metalcaste like Tess are Stone-influenced, so they would far sooner be a Stone mage, which is already rare. A metalcaste lightning mage that isn’t a Stormbreaker like Tess, is astronomically improbable, because Stone and Lightning reject each other.
Makes sense, Erin can’t harm himself from overchanneling if there’s nothing to channel.
I’m not sure if Tess can help with the tattoos, but if Erin regains consciousness he might be able manually stop channeling.
Except for the fact that metal explicitly channels Lightning, a necessary process for Primordial Stone to move and think. Part of Stone’s flavor (not explicitly stated, but it is apparent) is that it has the most allotropes of any element. The different types of rock, crystal and metal are all pure Stone, with only a few actual compounds or mixtures
Oh my god. That fourth panel hits so hard. I love it. VD going, “He’s almost more trouble than he’s worth” and Tess standing there, solid and stern as steel, responding, “Not even on his worst day”? That says so much about how Tess cares about her brother and how deep that bond goes, even when she’s mad at him–even when he’s put his foot in his mouth so badly a couple chapters ago.
I also love the progression of expressions in the first three panels.
I love Tess. I’d liked her before, but I’d underestimated her–I’d bet on VD winning if he tried to fight her. That’s a bet I’m happy to lose, in this case.
I feel like Waltuh has accepted defeat. The “he’s almost more trouble then he’s worth” Kinda makes me think he’s gonna give up for now. probably not, i’ve been wrong before.
V.D. drop Erin, he needs to nap. Also, Tess is being smart, thats what I love about her, everyone focuses on the punch-y part of puch wizard not the wizard part
I’m probably forgetting something right now, but I have to ask: I know Tess can control lightning, but stone as well? Afaik she isn’t a spellcaster, she’s a sparked metal cast.
She’s not actually casting Stone magic, she’s merely (“merely”) carving a ring of runes into the rock with her Lightning magic, which runes are then channeling the Stone (and Lightning) that VD so foolishly let into his vessel away from Erin
This has fascinating implications because he makes Erin channel by feel and thus doesn’t use runes. Tess implies that he won’t/can’t use runes to seal Erin’s channeling here, but why couldn’t he technically just make something up like Tess does? This is so simple that Falst could probably do it with his limited book learning, so I’m wondering if Voidy just never learned to read runes.
Honestly, he probably didn’t. He (and the twins) created sentient life, and by then he was already sealed away. Probably didn’t have much to read down in the core of the planet, and especially no way to learn runes. The only runes he probably knows are the primodial’s seals, as well as the one he made for himself, since they were the ones carved on the pedestal.
Alternatively, he could just not care/not have time for runes. Doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy to take the time for writing out a spell before he casts it, nor does he seem like the kind of guy to care about collateral damage.
Funny story, Red actually answered an ask about the magic language a while back that touches on this. Seems humans and elves found runes burnt into the cave walls while they still lived down there and discovered they could be used to finely control magic.
While some people theorise that Sennaia, goddess of knowledge, or Haol, god of the dark, left them there, Erin privately theorises V.D. had a hand in it. Armed with the language or magic, the study of magic could advance faster, and so could the recognition of the position of elemental magus, and V.D. would be one of the few living entities who knew the language of the primordials.
(Link to the ask here: https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/665524095585304576/is-there-a-god-of-the-written-word)
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: punch-wizard still apparently a kind of wizard
Image source: worst
tumblr text: see you on monday!
tumblr text: see you on monday!
What ho, muscle wizard! Might you cast us a spell?
“I cast THESE HANDS!”
I CAST IRON! *hits you with a frying pan*
that is one of the funniest jokes I have heard today, thank you for sharing 🙂
Bluesky text: so you had a bad day-
A punch wizard is a master of the arm-cane arts.
“come on, let me create sibling drama!”
“no”
Yayy, sibling love!
Tess is the best.
Unless my first thought when I saw the final panel comes true and she does drop the ceiling on Erin. I think those runes do something else tho, I just can’t tell what. We’ll see on monday.
Who am I kidding, we’ll see today when someone kindly posts a translation
Best I can gather from the last two panels is “alseals” so I’m guessing it says “seal” over and over again. Granted, my sibling is the translator wiz between the two of us and might be able to parse more from the 3rd to last panel, but they’re asleep so you’re stuck with me for now. 😛
Thank you!
Simpler than I expected, but makes plenty of sense
I can’t translate but it looks like a 4 letter pattern to me
The runic pattern says “seal”, it’s easier to read the letters forming from lightning on Tess’s fingertips.
Tess was hanging from the ceiling when the VD broke off the piece of the ceiling they were attached to. It didn’t fall because electricity is stronger than gravity, and Tess forced it back in to place, then welded it there.
Who would win, VD at full strength or Tess with unlimited preparation?
Oh, Tess, absolutely. With unlimited prep? She’d have the *entire world* lined up and ready to fight, each in their own ways.
VD-Erin (Walterin, perhaps?) is being really cute in panel 3 lol
Trust Voiderin to give “…ugh, sigh” a face that one likes looking at!
It’s probably a manipulation, but I’ll say he almost seems fond of his meat suit.
He’s referred to Erin as his “precious vessel” before. And I think he sees a certain amount of kinship with Erin, as they’re both greedy and spiteful.
So that’s how she makes those rune circles. Fast and efficient!
Rune script: SEAL.
That’s it. That’s the cipher.
disappointing outcome
What else were you expecting? Void dragon to pull out some random deus ex machina to keep the fight going? Risk killing Erin just to take out Tess? There really weren’t many ways this could’ve gone
You ever heard of AO3?
Not related to today’s comic but I recently realized something:
The Collector:
– Several hundred years old at least; exact age unknown
– still actively researching how to commit omnicide
– probably knows more about Life magic than anyone save Primordial Life herself
– probably knows more about how souls work than literally everyone else
The mage who created the Ferin:
– active roughly one thousand years ago
– identity unknown
– ultimate fate unknown
– somehow created magic mutants that aren’t chimeras
– manipulated the way that said mutants’ souls are connected to magic (as Falst proved, soul channels not completely closed)
– skill at creating Ferin visibly improved over time, as if the magic was practicing something or experimenting with something.
Coincidence? Probably. I realize that this theory has probably been brought up before, but here it is anyway.
She’s only about three hundred, so it doesn”t work. Check the Extra Lore.
And I think the current theory (or at least my theory) is the Ferin Mage was a Paladin, trying to make it so that V.D. couldn’t have a vessel. They acted like they were doing the cursed a favor, any children with at least one Ferin parent are always Ferin (Trying to make it so eventually, no mages would exist), and Ferin are magically inert (except maybe Light?)
That’s my theory too. The Ferin mage certainly had something to make their mutations stick; at first I thought it was Void, but after all the Light/Void connection theories and evidence, I think Paladin magic would do as well.
I don’t see the Ferin replacing all races and not eliminating mages entirely; they’ll always been some fringe elementally adapted humans and elves that will stay as they are. But one group they could one day supplant are unaltered humans i.e. the only group on the planet able to produce Elemental Maguses (Magi?). I could totally see a Paladin, either acting on their own or part of a more radical faction in the Paladins, using their magic with Life to make the curse as a misguided way to keep the dragon sealed.
Tess and Erin’s relationship is so sweet. Which makes the implied not so happy backstory between them even more interesting.
Breaking news: Local primordial evil possessing a twink gets absolutely dogwalked by butch with a taser
Hilarious
butch who is also a taser
Dogwalked, hah.
Teeesss <3 Sibling love and relationship. And, she has SUCH style.
Also, dear Voidy… welcome to being in a physical body. 's a bit of a bother, innit? I'm sure inhabiting one and experiencing the world through it won't change your mind one bit, or make you annoyed ever again.
SHAAAAH
Wait Silksong isn’t real, I must have dreamt that
What is Silksong?
deltarune tomorrow
Some mass hallucination. Like Goncharov.
Why are you giving me cool big sister envy? What did I do to you?
Wait, she *shaped* her lightning into the runs, and then *branded* those lightning runes into the rock.
God damn Tess, that’s badass.
Also, how on earth do you illustrate that with no words at all and still have it be super clear what’s happening? Red is amazing.
Oh wow. I missed that. That is so fricking cool.
Anyone been keeping track how long its been since the storm? A month? Six weks?
More like “The next morning”. Those cuts on Erin’s arms haven’t even begun to heal and he still desperately needs sleep. Void most likely possessed his body and started puppet-walking it the moment his muscles had the strength to bear his weight.
Nono, the other storm.
there have been 3 relevant storms in this comic, you have to be more specific
As far as we can tell, it’s been about 3 sefs (weeks) in-universe since the start of the comic. We haven’t seen the moons very clearly yet in Arc 2, so it’s hard to say exactly where we are on the timeline.
Crap yeah the ELEMENT storm. How long has Erin been a vessel?
About 2 sefs or so.
TESS I LOVE YOU 😭
seriously thats such a delightful subversion. voidy makes the slightest appeal at being sympathetic, appealing to the ever-present urge to dunk on your sibling, and he rolls a 1!!! he forgot that no one is allowed to call ur sibling annoying except for u urself, and this particular comment is definitely something she refuses to entertain.
pps. theres a strange contrast between both of them as erin’s caretakers.
V.D.: His worst day, eh? You mean the day he-
Tess: Ah-ba-ba! Stop that! You are NOT having the last word. Just go.
I feel like I owe Tess an apology for thinking she was merely a punch mage; in my defence, I was judging a book by it’s very awesome cover. I love the latter half of this page, creating the runes from lighting, firing them precisely, then letting the magic happen. Fits nicely with how Tess “feels” lightning magic as she did in Zuurith; conceptualising the relevant runes then manifesting them could almost be seen as a natural evolution of that.
The whole act also looks amazing. The changes between panels 4 and 5, in both the shape of the lightning and the hand poses, communicates both purpose and concentration as she forms them. The symbols scorching into the ceiling, then losing their glow while the magic lights up is a great sequence too. I wonder if Tess’s use of this method, carving into rock like Falst rather than making an energy circle like Erin, is because she must or whether it’s simply her preference.
V.D. would see Erin as more trouble than he’s worth, wouldn’t he? If he could ditch Erin, a guy with the ideas, connections, friends, and resolve to deal with him, and find a new Elemental Magus, he would in a heartbeat. Good thing Tess won’t leave, and knows just what to do in this situation; Erin never had a chance at convincing her to leave him alone on this mission, did he?
Prediction for next week: Looks like V.D. has relented, for now; depending on how serious Erin’s tattoo damage is he might even be out for most of Helm. Notice the stone AND lightning magic glow around the runes in the final panel? While those runes were made via lightning, I think they are meant to invoke stone too as part of Tess’s treatment needed to help Erin’s overchannel. Depending on how complex this ritual is, it may even take up all of next week’s pages.
Maybe she uses physical runes because it’s less of a drain on her lifeforce? I’m assuming her Spark is essentially a metaphysical battery whose charge can be used as external lightning/lightning magic. Of course, by that logic, all Metal People (or at least the Thunderstruck Ones like Tess) are Lightning Mages and none are any other type of mage.
The “spark” is just when a metal person gets hit by lightning and it opens their soul channel to lightning, I think it works just like any other casting.
Re: why carve into stone-
Possibly to make the spell less temporary? Lets the runes stay without her needing to focus. Doesn’t act as its own energy source like a lacrima would, but likely that the point is to draw on the ambient energy around Erin and siphon it away, preventing him from continuing to channel and corrupt himself.
They’re not invoking anything. They just say “seal”, so these runes are just sealing away any and all elemental energy, stopping it from reaching Erin’s body and thus stopping him from channeling magic. All Tess needs is a way to heal/repair the tats for this to be resolved smoothly.
@Dadycool, that’s not how magic works in this setting. Check the Extra Lore pages in the tab above for a more detailed explanation. As for the Spark, it’s just a way that metalcaste describe having a sense of self and agency. Also, metalcaste like Tess are Stone-influenced, so they would far sooner be a Stone mage, which is already rare. A metalcaste lightning mage that isn’t a Stormbreaker like Tess, is astronomically improbable, because Stone and Lightning reject each other.
Makes sense, Erin can’t harm himself from overchanneling if there’s nothing to channel.
I’m not sure if Tess can help with the tattoos, but if Erin regains consciousness he might be able manually stop channeling.
Except for the fact that metal explicitly channels Lightning, a necessary process for Primordial Stone to move and think. Part of Stone’s flavor (not explicitly stated, but it is apparent) is that it has the most allotropes of any element. The different types of rock, crystal and metal are all pure Stone, with only a few actual compounds or mixtures
Oh my god. That fourth panel hits so hard. I love it. VD going, “He’s almost more trouble than he’s worth” and Tess standing there, solid and stern as steel, responding, “Not even on his worst day”? That says so much about how Tess cares about her brother and how deep that bond goes, even when she’s mad at him–even when he’s put his foot in his mouth so badly a couple chapters ago.
I also love the progression of expressions in the first three panels.
I love Tess. I’d liked her before, but I’d underestimated her–I’d bet on VD winning if he tried to fight her. That’s a bet I’m happy to lose, in this case.
Tess really is amazing. And that panel really cemented it.
Punch wizard is my favorite type of wizard
I feel like Waltuh has accepted defeat. The “he’s almost more trouble then he’s worth” Kinda makes me think he’s gonna give up for now. probably not, i’ve been wrong before.
Erin is falling over unconscious on panel 7. I’m pretty sure VD left, for now
not even on his worst day… always losing my mind about their dynamic actually
V.D. drop Erin, he needs to nap. Also, Tess is being smart, thats what I love about her, everyone focuses on the punch-y part of puch wizard not the wizard part
I think Tess just became my 2nd favorite character. (I like angry gremlin boys like Falst too much Fullmetal Alchemist ruined me forever XD)
And the Auroran Best Sister award goes to Tess!
I love how the cave mouth makes it look like Tess has a cape. Very superhero.
As requested, skateboarding VD ^
Brilliant, I love it
INCREDIBLE ADJFHSKJ
I’m probably forgetting something right now, but I have to ask: I know Tess can control lightning, but stone as well? Afaik she isn’t a spellcaster, she’s a sparked metal cast.
She’s not actually casting Stone magic, she’s merely (“merely”) carving a ring of runes into the rock with her Lightning magic, which runes are then channeling the Stone (and Lightning) that VD so foolishly let into his vessel away from Erin
And Tess reminds us that for all they bicker, she’s still the only person in this party that genuinely LIKES Erin, and that’s including Erin himself.
Only Falst seems to have some problem with him and its minor, the others are pretty much okay with him.
I adore how much Tess loves Erin 😍
love how tess can throw runes down as a different way of casting magic
Instantly lighteninging runes into rock is a pretty awesome display.
TL;DR: See, the difference here is that I actually care about the person you’re possessing.
Wait can Voidy even read?
This has fascinating implications because he makes Erin channel by feel and thus doesn’t use runes. Tess implies that he won’t/can’t use runes to seal Erin’s channeling here, but why couldn’t he technically just make something up like Tess does? This is so simple that Falst could probably do it with his limited book learning, so I’m wondering if Voidy just never learned to read runes.
Honestly, he probably didn’t. He (and the twins) created sentient life, and by then he was already sealed away. Probably didn’t have much to read down in the core of the planet, and especially no way to learn runes. The only runes he probably knows are the primodial’s seals, as well as the one he made for himself, since they were the ones carved on the pedestal.
Alternatively, he could just not care/not have time for runes. Doesn’t seem to be the kind of guy to take the time for writing out a spell before he casts it, nor does he seem like the kind of guy to care about collateral damage.
Funny story, Red actually answered an ask about the magic language a while back that touches on this. Seems humans and elves found runes burnt into the cave walls while they still lived down there and discovered they could be used to finely control magic.
While some people theorise that Sennaia, goddess of knowledge, or Haol, god of the dark, left them there, Erin privately theorises V.D. had a hand in it. Armed with the language or magic, the study of magic could advance faster, and so could the recognition of the position of elemental magus, and V.D. would be one of the few living entities who knew the language of the primordials.
(Link to the ask here: https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/665524095585304576/is-there-a-god-of-the-written-word)
I’m finally all caught up!
Congratulations!