Children of the Light

An original webcomic by the Salt & Pepper Bunny

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Welcome to Children of the Light!

A fantasy webcomic about developmental disability and familial abuse

Children of the Light is an original webcomic featuring a dysfunctional family of light spirits, who have protected the Forest under the Spirit Tree's watchful guidance for millennia. The second-youngest child, Tashi, seeks to prove they're capable of being a forest guardian just like the rest of their siblings. To do so, Tashi must pass the Spirit Tree's test and successfully raise their newborn sibling Ru, who hears hallucinatory voices from shrubbery and plantlife, and turn them into a proper forest guardian. As fellow defective spirits, the odds are stacked against Tashi and Ru. Can they come together to win back their family's love, or will the Spirit Tree's conservative values ultimately turn them against each other?

Updates Thursdays!

Story and art by @saltnpepperbunny

MASTERPOST BELOW

CONTENT WARNINGS

LINKS TO READ OFF-SITE

Comicfury site Deviantart Patreon (Read pages one week ahead!)

Q&A

Q&A #1 (Spoilers up to Chapter 3) Q&A #2 (Spoilers up to Chapter 5) Q&A #3 [Coming after Chapter 9!]

PAGE ONE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prelude

Chapter 1: Tashi Chapter 2: Ru Chapter 3: Iya's Home Chapter 4: Mentor and Sprout Chapter 5: Kua

Chapter 6: Darkness and Light Chapter 7: Ashi Chapter 8: Doubt Chapter 9: Family Chapter 10:

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i don’t know if it’s been asked before but something just occurred to me: what would the spirits think of animals being trans? would they invalidate it in the same way as Ru and Kua’s cases, or would they not care or make some kind of exception? would it be different if the hypothetical animal was nonbinary, since most animals are assigned binary genders while spirits are born genderless? it seems like they didn’t really know that being trans was A Thing to begin with, but since Acorn Village was brought up it got me thinking

speaking of, do spirits ever get misgendered by animals? (sorry if this is a lot of questions, i just love delving into the minutiae of fictional worlds and the current chapter has me really excited!)

what would the spirits think of animals being trans? would they invalidate it in the same way as Ru and Kua’s cases, or would they not care or make some kind of exception?

Depends on the spirit and how closed vs open minded they are! Trans issues aren't really a big political thing in COTLverse, trans animals (and spirits!) do exist though and it just depends on who's meeting who for how those interactions go. Some spirits are very trans friendly since they don't care about gender that much, some don't understand it as well. But it's more likely for other animals to take issue than spirits.

would it be different if the hypothetical animal was nonbinary, since most animals are assigned binary genders while spirits are born genderless?

this would probably be more confusing for a spirit! but it would depend on the kind of nonbinary. an animal being agender would make more logical sense to them than an animal being genderfluid, for example. they're all capable of learning, but yeah.

speaking of, do spirits ever get misgendered by animals?

definitely! this is most common in younger child animals who are less knowledgeable about spirits. but as they grow and learn, animals do come to understand spirits default to they/them generally.

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 18 < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like being full of surprises, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 17 < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like a genuine apology, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 16 < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like check-ins, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 15 < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like the Spirit Tree's strong sense of humor, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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Why is Kua like this? It simply invokes the stereotyping thing all over again... but in reverse. Thinking it will go so well... when the person in question is anything but.

It should be ok. It should turn out ok. Let the kids be safe.... *remembers poster for this year* They will be safe.🤞🤞

kua is a very young person who comes from a pretty positive upbringing, though she's seen a lot on her travels, she has yet to personally face real tragedy. she's naive, in a sense.

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 14 Content warnings updated. < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like being confidently wrong, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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A fascinating realization I just came to, is that, well, do light spirits *really* need to be Children of the Light?

As far as I can tell, it's all just a job. And da big boss is the Tree. Ru strikes me as a modern day kid that refuses to work bc she sees how fucked the system is and definitely doesn't think its worth it, even if she might learn a neat thing or two under proper guidance (which is unfortunately not present at the moment, Tashi and Iya can only be so much for Ru atm).

Tashi strikes me as someone who's gotten fired due to supreme job incompatibility (their low self esteem making them not ready for a real leadership position, and warping their view of the circle of life by always protecting the prey/underdogs), but lives in a family household where they're made to feel that being a Child of the Light is the only job they can do. Can there be other things out there for light spirits? Can't they thrive just as well without having to be a little talk pieces for their Parent?

We know spirits like Ashi can thrive just fine without being a Child of Light. And technically, *they've* been a better 'child of light' than any of the other actual Children thus far (except for apparently Iko, who is loved by many bc they actually like the animals they care for ❤️‍🩹).

It'd be really interesting if the story shifts in such a way where, hey, maybe banishment might not suck that bad for Tashi and Ru, if they actually have an excuse now to venture out on a pilgrimage like Kua. Given that light pools aren't localized entirely around the Tree (I'm almost surprised the Tree hasn't hogged them all given how ignorantly insidous they've been treating their children thus far), it sounds like a light spirit can venture just abt anywhere so long as they can find a pool to rekindle. Hell, the fact that Kua managed to find a dark pool some ways from the forest to re-dim every now and then definitely means something for the geographical agency of spirits in general.

Love this ask. OuO Sorry it took me a moment to answer it, I had a situation w my pets going on and my partner was visiting.

You're going to love Chapters 10 and 11 I think.

You're especially on point about Ru!

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 13 < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like terrible ideas, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 12 < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like a pair of slippers, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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Some people on the Internet are BADLY misinterpreting Children of the Light.

They’re saying that Iya is the REAL victim of the story like Kai (they are, but not in the way they think they are), that Tashi is evil and can’t handle criticism and that Ru “feels” like a girl (implying that she shouldn’t see herself as one).

It’s clear to me that they are doing this in bad faith.

What do you say about this in your defense? Do you think these bad-faith readers are as malicious as I think they are?

lol?

ohhhh, that's okay. |D;;;; i mean obvs i never love to hear this stuff, but i can't control how every person will interpret the story. if people want to hate-read, it's their prerogative.

i'm certain i will show by the end of the story that no one here (but the spirit tree) is a bad person. not even tashi, even though they make a lot of mistakes!

wouldn't it be a good thing that ru "feels" like a girl, since she now has decided to be one?? lol.

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 11 < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like frogs, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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New dub episode just came out! This dub is produced by @pokesara. I am uninvolved.

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 10 COTL updates Mondays and Fridays for May! Enjoy. :D  < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like Ru's feelings, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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Children of the Light- Chapter 9, Page 10 You heard her! She/her pronouns for Ru from now on, commenters. ^^  < Previous | Next > Start Reading Content Warnings If you like transitioning, please consider supporting me on Patreon! Story and Art by @saltnpepperbunny

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rahhh being so cringe BUTTTT I have autism and tashi is very very important snd special to me and makes me feel seen especially their meltdowns honestly like no one else portrays them as well as you do to be honest. also their ramblings and being scolded constantly for not getting social rules. also also ru is so so so so special forever to me as I have schizophrenia and suffer from hearing things/delusions and it’s so nice to see it portrayed in a way that doesn’t make it demonized…lots of love

Hey thanks for this ask ;;;w;;; Thiiiiis kind of message is exactly what I write for, haha. Or at least, what I write and post online for. It's a gift to try and bring some fictional representation to people who rarely receive it. Lots of love to you too!