2.7.12
on April 17, 2026
at 3:00 am
thank you chapter 5 for giving me ten million hours of practice in underwater scenes
Aurora
A fantasy webcomic. Updates M-W-F.
thank you chapter 5 for giving me ten million hours of practice in underwater scenes
Can Kendal swim actually? Like physically I mean. He has metal in his bones, is he buoyant enough to not just sink?
He might not be able to swim easily, but he’s strong and fast enough that I bet he can still swim. He just has to keep himself aimed slightly upward to counterbalance the rate at which he’d sink.
Sort of like when you see an airplane land while at an angle to the runway, but their movement is perfectly straight, because the pilot is counteracting the wind by angling the plane.
Erin’s face of “why must have keep having ideas and plans” in the fourth panel
I’m kind of obsessed with Erin’s expressions in this page
SOOOOOOO many good Erin faces this page. This may be second only to 1.22.45 for ‘number of good Erin faces’.
Good everyone faces
Already knew what page this was but I had to double check.. man I need to stop re-reading so often
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: but at least we maintain our dignitEEEEEEEEE-
Image source: jump
always thankful for your hard work, especially when I’m not at my laptop
Tumblr text: tactics and stratagems
Bluesky text: boy’s night!
Whoops!!
Today’s bluesky text: wheeeeeeee
They’re gonna look the other way and see Stefan’s secret squadron of water dragons.
I give it a few more pages before Stefan gets the report that the spellbirds can’t track Erin any longer.
Surprise motherhugger
Stefan will be very upset, because he was trying to keep it a secret.
Alinua please find them this situation is so out of hand and perilous
Kendal looks so weird underwater with the lighting de-saturating his hair.
YAAAAY! New spell scripts! Let’s see.
Water script:
“REINFORCE SHIELD BUBBLE SFERE HOLD SHAPE HOLD AIR”
Fire script:
“CONVERT TOKSIC EKSHALATION TO FRESH AIR” (please note that the “sh” phoneme has a singular letter in the Auroran alphabet.)
Also, more hilarious Erin faces this page. He’s really hesitating now that he has to execute this plan, meanwhile Dainix be like “fuck it we ball”. XD
* TOKSINS, not TOKSIC
I love these translations so much. Thank you, Mat.
(And how much do I love Aurora, that level of detail!)
Hm. Seems like moderation ate my previous comments.
*TOKSINS
i can understand why falst ran,,,, this plan (or most of it) is completely reliant on erin’s concentration (also kendal is so cute here ah!!)
Damn, Erin buddy, you don’t seem that sure about this anymore there
Almost like he’s hoping someone will think of a better idea.
Dainix: Don’t tell me. We’re about to go over the cliff into the water.
Erin: Yep.
Dainix: Sharp rocks at the bottom?
Erin: Most likely.
Dainix: … Bring it on. Boo-yah! Whoo!
Erin, I know it’s daunting to jump from a hight into cold water, trust me I know; spent good parts of my childhood jumping, or trying to jump, into the British side of the Atlantic from a quay. But now is NOT the time to get cold feet; even Dainix looks annoyed in panel 3, like “this is your terrible plan, we all agreed to it, So Just Go!”.
Ok, this is good. The spellbirds can’t track Erin now (I don’t think the Paladins know anyone else’s names) and they know to move quick so the spellglow isn’t spotted. Now may also be a good time for Dainix to open up about his fear of water to Erin, since they have a long seabed walk ahead of them.
Prediction for next week: Not sure who we will follow on Monday. Erin and Dainix as they descend, with Dainix looking more uncomfortable as they go? Kendal trying to make contact with the Northern Wyrm? Falst and/or Tess evading Paladins? Stefan and Loquor questioning why their spellbirds are no longer working?
Maybe this is where Alinua rejoins the squad?
Hilarious.
Love me a New Groove reference.
I used to go camping by a lake. There was a nice rock beach to walk to with a rock where you could jump in. Nice clear, deep water for the landing, about a six foot drop.
OR… you could hop into a kayak/canoe and paddle across the lake. Where there was another rock good for jumping off (nearly vertical rock face, ~50 feet of clear, deep water to land in). This time the drop was closer to thirty feet. You had to get a bit of a running start, too. “Nearly” vertical is NOT vertical, so you had to clear about two feet of horizontal distance before dropping below the jumping point.
I know a lake like that, way up in a mountain forest but absurdly near a small town. The cliff is on an island in the lake… and it’s a city park. Fascinating spot.
Am I the only one who likes this dynamic between Dainix and Erin?
erin sort of looks like he’s doing some kind of magical girl transformation in that first panel
I love all of that faces on this page. Also, panel one is SO PRETTY
“I am a mage I do not do physical things like jumping or being in water or anything but turn a book page really!” is my reading of subtext here :3
Also helllo Dainix muscles. Between Tess’ back and Dainix stomach, I think we’ll need a new glass of water for all the thirsting. Lucky us it’s an underwater scene?
Literally we ball!
lol wait how do they move around? Does Kendal push them?
I think Erin and Dainix are going to walk along the ocean floor. I’m more curious how Kendal is going to talk to the Nothern Wyrm underwater… I don’t think our man knows ASL (Aurora sign language)…
Hm. Now that you mention it, wouldn’t Kendal know a lot of languages since he has Vash’s memories? Vash being a city god and all…although it would be a bit weird to suddenly have him using Auroran Sign Language without establishing it’s existence first…I think.
They made it into the water! Okay! Good! I don’t know why, but that last panel with Kendal floating outside the bubble and wordlessly waving goodbye struck me as funny. I’m also enjoying the Erin and Dainix interactions here. Erin was clearly anxious and hesitant when actually executing his plan (understandable) and Dainix was just like “we’re doing this” in as few words as possible. Which I also understand. One, he’s Ravvan. He’s used to frightening military operations and having to find the resolve to act. Two, he seems to have locked all his emotions down, stuffed his misery in a box, and is just trying to push forward as efficiently as possible.
I’m sure that won’t backfire and everything is going to go swimmingly. Mhm.
I am hoping that one of them runs into Alinua. Perhaps Kendal? Since she was with the northern wyrm, he seems like the most likely candidate to find her first.
Oh my golly me it’s Dainix facing his fears!
Yeah, but it seems like Erin isn’t happy about carpooling for it.
If you can’t get your own wind magic just find a suitable substitute
Erin: “If we’re doing this safely, we need to understand that–”
Dainix: “Get in the water…. or I’ll make you shriek so high, all your dignity will die.”
Aren’t you tired Dainix, it’s beenWAIT WAIT WAIT– *Bwoosh*
just popping in to say that the first panel is absolutely gorgeous
So, uh. Not to nitpick, but… how are they gonna go underwater? That air bubble’s gotta have a *lot* of buoyancy. Like this, they’re gonna need a few tons of weights to even start to sink and not just bob on the surface.
It’s not exactly CHEKHOV’s Bubble, seeing as how it’s Erin making it with his own magic, but Red has cleverly planted the idea of a magic bubble of air, long ago…
Given that Red never expected Falst to flee, it’s possible that Falst trying to teach himself how to carve a bubble spell was originally a pure Chekhov’s Gun for this scene…
That’s a fascinating idea, but Falst did lose the air lacrima in the shipwreck so I’m not so certain. But it’s also possible that Erin and Dainix will find that lacrima in the wreckage.
Does it count as Chekov’s Bubble if Falst already used it (trying to calm Dainix down)?
(Genuine question, I was under the impression a Chekov’s gun should only be “fired” once)
It becomes a Chekhov’s boomerang if it happens twice
Erin’s eyes look very pretty with the blue and red glows.
Also, I bet a ballistic Alinua is rapidly approaching Kendal, ready to deploy the tightest hug in the comic since chapter 22
And after the hugh, a sound scolding for having her worried! XD
Good thing Kendal doesn’t need to breathe
Was each bubble hand-drawn, or did you use A.I.? Wouldn’t it be cool if, somewhere in this scene, there was one tiny bubble that had a smiley face on it? ^_^ Maybe there is and I just haven’t found it yet.
I don’t think she used AI but it is possible with digital art to create ‘brushes’ that procedurally place, e.g., lots of little translucent circles, without having to draw each little circle individually. (My understanding of it is limited, I’m not really an artist).
Ew. No. Red doesn’t use AI, no artist worth their salt does.
Yeah, using AI is really just cheating
I don’t think they’re ‘hand-drawn’ exactly, since Red uses drawing software, but it’s definitely not AI-Generated.
Red’s mentioned making custom brushes for her drawing software before, for chains. I’d say it’s some sort of brush.
Erin panel 2 is a vibe.
Damn Red has gotten GOOD at drawing IN GENERAL.
Alinua is going to be so confused
splitting the party and we got the prettyboy team!!
Good thing we won’t be going down there
World’s most Gender (TM) Kendal in that bottom panel fr