. “…He sounds very special to you,” Selach says after a moment.
. “Not just to me.”
. “I’m… sorry for dragging you into this,” Selach says, rubbing her neck. “She’s our problem. She wrecked your ship. We should be the ones helping you.”
. “Let’s not worry about blame,” Alinua says, quickly regaining her composure. She lifts the dead chimera into her arms. “If we look far enough it’s probably mine anyway.”
. “Yours? Why would it be–?”
. “Now let me see…” Alinua says, lifting the chimera so their faces are nearly touching, eyes tightly shut. “How did she make you?” Her — and the chimera’s — eyes glow brightly underneath the lids as a connection forms.
. A large chimera, roaring, many sparks of Life — embryo — inside it. The Collector laying a hand on it, sensing the developing chimera inside, a slight smile on her face.
I wasn’t really sure what the left side of the last panel was, so I went the mother chimera route instead of the coming-out-of-egg route. idk, maybe next page will give more detail about that
I’m gonna pause for the rest of this week. My cousin’s having a wedding, so I want to focus on that! If someone wants to do the pages while I’m gone, I’d love to see that 🙂
Oh wow. That is actually ingenious. And very sophisticated. And it makes sense. What better way to make a chimera according to your design than to build one from the ground up?
I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a chimera hatchery somewhere in her lair. Alinua (and Life) must be gagging at the thought.
nah we’ve seen life speak through alinua before and it would be very out of character for life to just randomly speak for alinua
she probably means its her problem trough her association to both kendal and life tho
“the collector is kendal’s problem thus her and by extension the wyrm are her problems too” and something similar to life
This is probably just Alinua taking on an unhealthy amount of blame because she has lived so much of her life thinking of herself as cursed and a blight on society that it comes naturally to assume it is her fault even if that doesn’t make much sense.
‘Blight’ is unfortunately the perfect term for this. “A contagious disease or injury of plants marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and ultimately death of parts such as leaves and tubers.”
She might mean that she should have tried harder to convince Erin the trip was a bad idea; I think she’s only referring to the boat’s destruction in any case.
I was tempted to overanalyze but I think she’s just speaking in the context of her boat getting wrecked because that’s what Selach was just talking about. She thinks that by activating her Life vision on the boat she actually called the Wyrm to them, and I think there was something else in the story confirming that but I forget
We can see the chimera-fish(-corpse) that Alinua is holding going ‘raaaa’, and it’s body weaves back to what looks something like a shell that the Collector is touching, inside which is what looks like a small embryonic version of the chimera. Though rather abstract, the implication seems to be that Alinua is accessing this chimera’s memories (in some form) and learning that the Collector grows her characteristic chimera from birth (explaining how they are highly functional while also being unrecognizable as any base animal).
My guess is that Alinua is using her Life magic to rewind it’s life history from what it grew into on the cellular level. From sensing it full grown form to earliest being for the chimera. At least that is how I see it.
Mm, I’ve always considered Kenya Starflight’s “Domovoi” to be the (unofficial) sequel. Excellent writing, satisfying and logical character arcs, and her writing predates “Uprising”, so even though there are some elemental overlaps, not only did she write them first, she wrote them better.
And it’s got a sequel, too! She’s said it’s not as strong as she would have liked, but it holds up well regardless.
Alinua! You can’t blame yourself for all the world’s problems. That’s Erin’s job!
Come on you two! Selach, you were desperate when a one-in-a-million life mage showed up and scared your problem away; who wouldn’t at least investigate them for possible help? And Alinua, you are not to blame for the Collector’s and/or Life’s shenanigans; you’re a victim, same as the Wyrm.
The one who should apologise is Captain Valia after accusing Alinua and the gang of angering the Wyrm, and being very rude.
Interesting. The circles running along the chimera’s back in the vision, going from small points to larger bean-shapes to me evokes imagery of a developing embryo. The far left picture looks like a womb or egg being tended to by the Collector. Her chimeras aren’t existing animals mutated by life magic; the Collector grows them from scratch. Collie calling them “her children” in Zuurith wasn’t hyperbole.
… Wait a minute. The Collector makes her chimeras from scratch rather than mutating existing beings. Her motives for going after Vash so soon after the Northern Wyrm have been questioned in the comments a lot. We’ve been thinking this whole time that the Wyrm’s incarnation was mutated by her.
What if that’s not the case? What if this Wyrm is a chimera she made? After so many years of siphoning gods out of their realms and incarnations, what if the Collector wanted to see if she could do the opposite? Take the Wyrm out of its body, place it inside a purpose built self-healing chimera, and see what happens.
(Though I guess she could have removed the Wyrm’s soul, then mutated the existing incarnation, before putting the soul back too.)
Wow. This Is gorgeous! And creepy. But also gorgeous!
Also I JUST GOT MY PHYSICAL COPY OF AURORA! 😀 😀 😀 It is indeed beautifully heavy (902 g) And, if anybody wonders like I did, its size is about 228mm * 152mm * 23mm.
I kind of wonder if chimera made by the same process as the Collector’s but not for evil reasons aren’t like that. The steeds that Kendal and Alinua rode after visiting Windcrest might be a product of that?? Maybe??? Although Alinua and Kendal DEFINITELY weren’t aware of that. And remember, the Ferin are also technically chimera. Although they’re also a really really really weird case so maybe that doesn’t matter diddly-squat. I don’t think I used that turn of phrase correctly, haha! Also, wait, where do plants fit into this particular cork board ethically and scientifically? Alinua accidentally mutated some vines when trying to open a path to the Collector when she first met Kendal, remarking “these plants will never be the same,” which sounds a lot like a chimera to me, but it doesn’t entirely seem to be the same situation…and then in Windcrest, she asked that spontaneously grown-up tree to bear an unnatural, unnaturally consistent amount of fruit. *Asked!* And as a final note, creating mutated plants using Life Magic would, theoretically, be a godsend for agriculture…assuming they could get those plants to reproduce…and what about stuff that is neither a plant nor a complex animal!?
a) the steed-things they got from Windscrest were a naturally-occuring animal, I think, it’s just that in this world, there’s a bunch of fantasy creatures we don’t have (like dragons, for example!). b) well I think it *is* unethical to create Ferin; see, for reference, the huge amount of discrimination Falst (and other Ferin we’ve seen) experience. but they’ve been around for long enough that, between every other kind of species of person in the world, Alinua probably doesn’t really register them as ‘chimera’. as a species, they’re chimera, but an individual Ferin is largely indistinguishable from a normal healthy creature/person. c) it’s been stated in peripheral sources (i.e. tumblr asks and such) that generally among life mages (although Alinua may disagree) that once you mutate an animal, it can’t live out its life like it used to be able to, but a plants’ purpose is generally just to grow as much as possible and using life magic to make it explode into more plant growth isn’t actually really harming its ability to do what it’s ‘made for’. (also, plants don’t have, yaknow, feelings, or minds, or at least much less of either, so they can’t really suffer the same as animals can).
OMG I just freaking got it – when the Collector threatened Zuurith, she called her Chimera her Children! If she mutated them so dramatically so early in life, it’s no wonder she used that phrasing (even without that foreshadowing/hint, it’s a badass line she delivers though! Damn I love her hahaha)
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: your honor it’s literally just a little guy
Image source: blame
That Alt text has to be something Sophia has said word for word on Rolling with difficulty
Bluesky text: hellooooooo in there
(I copied and pasted so I got the right number of ‘o’s)
Tumblr text: good morning!
. “…He sounds very special to you,” Selach says after a moment.
. “Not just to me.”
. “I’m… sorry for dragging you into this,” Selach says, rubbing her neck. “She’s our problem. She wrecked your ship. We should be the ones helping you.”
. “Let’s not worry about blame,” Alinua says, quickly regaining her composure. She lifts the dead chimera into her arms. “If we look far enough it’s probably mine anyway.”
. “Yours? Why would it be–?”
. “Now let me see…” Alinua says, lifting the chimera so their faces are nearly touching, eyes tightly shut. “How did she make you?” Her — and the chimera’s — eyes glow brightly underneath the lids as a connection forms.
. A large chimera, roaring, many sparks of Life — embryo — inside it. The Collector laying a hand on it, sensing the developing chimera inside, a slight smile on her face.
I wasn’t really sure what the left side of the last panel was, so I went the mother chimera route instead of the coming-out-of-egg route. idk, maybe next page will give more detail about that
I’m gonna pause for the rest of this week. My cousin’s having a wedding, so I want to focus on that! If someone wants to do the pages while I’m gone, I’d love to see that 🙂
I might give it a shot :3
Unrelated, I love the expressions and lighting on this page my gosh- and many a mystery for my brain to unravel
-How did she make you?
-Green and very small, as you can see.
New Power Unlocked!
Oh wow. That is actually ingenious. And very sophisticated. And it makes sense. What better way to make a chimera according to your design than to build one from the ground up?
I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a chimera hatchery somewhere in her lair. Alinua (and Life) must be gagging at the thought.
Thank you for explaining this… I completely failed to parse the meaning of the last panel!
Thank you very much for explaining this! I also did not get it at all.
Wait, how is it hers? The collector was active before she was born
I think this is Primordial Life speaking through Alinua.
nah we’ve seen life speak through alinua before and it would be very out of character for life to just randomly speak for alinua
she probably means its her problem trough her association to both kendal and life tho
“the collector is kendal’s problem thus her and by extension the wyrm are her problems too” and something similar to life
This is probably just Alinua taking on an unhealthy amount of blame because she has lived so much of her life thinking of herself as cursed and a blight on society that it comes naturally to assume it is her fault even if that doesn’t make much sense.
I’d agree with this, adding on the justification of “if I was better, I would have figured Life out earlier and then done something about all this”
‘Blight’ is unfortunately the perfect term for this. “A contagious disease or injury of plants marked by the formation of lesions, withering, and ultimately death of parts such as leaves and tubers.”
She might mean that she should have tried harder to convince Erin the trip was a bad idea; I think she’s only referring to the boat’s destruction in any case.
I was tempted to overanalyze but I think she’s just speaking in the context of her boat getting wrecked because that’s what Selach was just talking about. She thinks that by activating her Life vision on the boat she actually called the Wyrm to them, and I think there was something else in the story confirming that but I forget
I’d say it might be her problem in the sense that as Life’s chosen it’s her job to undo what the Collector has done in the name of Life.
Gorgeous panel 5!!!! And damn, Ali can see the PAST through her connection to Life now? damn O.O
I’m… not completely sure what’s going on in that last panel.
We can see the chimera-fish(-corpse) that Alinua is holding going ‘raaaa’, and it’s body weaves back to what looks something like a shell that the Collector is touching, inside which is what looks like a small embryonic version of the chimera. Though rather abstract, the implication seems to be that Alinua is accessing this chimera’s memories (in some form) and learning that the Collector grows her characteristic chimera from birth (explaining how they are highly functional while also being unrecognizable as any base animal).
The Collector used The Wyrm to grow and birth chimeras
My guess is that Alinua is using her Life magic to rewind it’s life history from what it grew into on the cellular level. From sensing it full grown form to earliest being for the chimera. At least that is how I see it.
well it’s canon, some chimeras begin and end cute.
Warning: do not mind-meld with dead chimeras unless you’re an expert.
Dare I reference the Pacific Rim sequel?
What are you talking about, there is no sequel.
Mm, I’ve always considered Kenya Starflight’s “Domovoi” to be the (unofficial) sequel. Excellent writing, satisfying and logical character arcs, and her writing predates “Uprising”, so even though there are some elemental overlaps, not only did she write them first, she wrote them better.
And it’s got a sequel, too! She’s said it’s not as strong as she would have liked, but it holds up well regardless.
Alinua! You can’t blame yourself for all the world’s problems. That’s Erin’s job!
Come on you two! Selach, you were desperate when a one-in-a-million life mage showed up and scared your problem away; who wouldn’t at least investigate them for possible help? And Alinua, you are not to blame for the Collector’s and/or Life’s shenanigans; you’re a victim, same as the Wyrm.
The one who should apologise is Captain Valia after accusing Alinua and the gang of angering the Wyrm, and being very rude.
Interesting. The circles running along the chimera’s back in the vision, going from small points to larger bean-shapes to me evokes imagery of a developing embryo. The far left picture looks like a womb or egg being tended to by the Collector. Her chimeras aren’t existing animals mutated by life magic; the Collector grows them from scratch. Collie calling them “her children” in Zuurith wasn’t hyperbole.
… Wait a minute. The Collector makes her chimeras from scratch rather than mutating existing beings. Her motives for going after Vash so soon after the Northern Wyrm have been questioned in the comments a lot. We’ve been thinking this whole time that the Wyrm’s incarnation was mutated by her.
What if that’s not the case? What if this Wyrm is a chimera she made? After so many years of siphoning gods out of their realms and incarnations, what if the Collector wanted to see if she could do the opposite? Take the Wyrm out of its body, place it inside a purpose built self-healing chimera, and see what happens.
(Though I guess she could have removed the Wyrm’s soul, then mutated the existing incarnation, before putting the soul back too.)
I don’t think Alinua is blaming herself. I think she means the Wyrm is her *problem*.
Right now Selach only knows that Ali has Collector-related trauma, not that Ali (and the rest of the Floff Squad) are trying to defeat the Collector
And there she is, smug as ever
the weird girl energy is more powerful with this page
… Weird little dude?
new friend, carry this head like its mimir
Wow. This Is gorgeous! And creepy. But also gorgeous!
Also I JUST GOT MY PHYSICAL COPY OF AURORA! 😀 😀 😀 It is indeed beautifully heavy (902 g) And, if anybody wonders like I did, its size is about 228mm * 152mm * 23mm.
incomprehensible, have a nice day. – American /j
Congratulations!!!! I’m so excited to get mine in *checks countdown* about 2 weeks!
That’s amazing! I’m still waiting for mine
GIVE ALINUA A CHIMERA AS A PET GIVE ALINUA A CHIMERA AS A PET
I don’t think Kendel will be too keen on seeing a Chimera running around the party. Will be a bit of a PTSD flashback for him
Maybe she could put a blanket over it or something
Alinua would never make a chimera nor allow one to exist, they are either in constant pain or are unthinking meat puppets.
I kind of wonder if chimera made by the same process as the Collector’s but not for evil reasons aren’t like that. The steeds that Kendal and Alinua rode after visiting Windcrest might be a product of that?? Maybe??? Although Alinua and Kendal DEFINITELY weren’t aware of that. And remember, the Ferin are also technically chimera. Although they’re also a really really really weird case so maybe that doesn’t matter diddly-squat. I don’t think I used that turn of phrase correctly, haha! Also, wait, where do plants fit into this particular cork board ethically and scientifically? Alinua accidentally mutated some vines when trying to open a path to the Collector when she first met Kendal, remarking “these plants will never be the same,” which sounds a lot like a chimera to me, but it doesn’t entirely seem to be the same situation…and then in Windcrest, she asked that spontaneously grown-up tree to bear an unnatural, unnaturally consistent amount of fruit. *Asked!* And as a final note, creating mutated plants using Life Magic would, theoretically, be a godsend for agriculture…assuming they could get those plants to reproduce…and what about stuff that is neither a plant nor a complex animal!?
a) the steed-things they got from Windscrest were a naturally-occuring animal, I think, it’s just that in this world, there’s a bunch of fantasy creatures we don’t have (like dragons, for example!). b) well I think it *is* unethical to create Ferin; see, for reference, the huge amount of discrimination Falst (and other Ferin we’ve seen) experience. but they’ve been around for long enough that, between every other kind of species of person in the world, Alinua probably doesn’t really register them as ‘chimera’. as a species, they’re chimera, but an individual Ferin is largely indistinguishable from a normal healthy creature/person. c) it’s been stated in peripheral sources (i.e. tumblr asks and such) that generally among life mages (although Alinua may disagree) that once you mutate an animal, it can’t live out its life like it used to be able to, but a plants’ purpose is generally just to grow as much as possible and using life magic to make it explode into more plant growth isn’t actually really harming its ability to do what it’s ‘made for’. (also, plants don’t have, yaknow, feelings, or minds, or at least much less of either, so they can’t really suffer the same as animals can).
“Ok Alinua, please roll me an Investigation check”
“Nat 20. Tell me this thing’s whole life story.” “…okay.”
Genuinely horrifying, thanks
Guys. Guys, c’mon. NO ONE is picking up on the implications of that last panel.
You’re all saying the Collector must have a hatchery somewhere, but we’re literally being shown where the hatchery is.
IT’S THE WYRM. THE COLLECTOR TURNED TGE WYRM INTO A HATCHERY FOR HER CHIMERAS. THAT’S WHERE THEY COME FROM.
Selach is so chill and nice everyone say thank you Selach
the pre-baby chimera is now one of my favorite aurora things it’s so cute
OMG I just freaking got it – when the Collector threatened Zuurith, she called her Chimera her Children! If she mutated them so dramatically so early in life, it’s no wonder she used that phrasing (even without that foreshadowing/hint, it’s a badass line she delivers though! Damn I love her hahaha)
Oh no i read this all at once and now i have to wait. Oh the folly of man.
damn, collector really said “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRMn2HlCRFI”
Let’s not seek blame, but instead look back
At the egg from which spawned the creature of attack
here comes the :sparkles: boooyy :sparkles:
Am I just villain obsessed or is it adorable that the Collector always gives her Chimera amazing manes