I’m considering skipping next week’s round up to take some time to get into Metaphor Re Fantazio. I don’t know, we’ll see how the week and weekend goes.
Africa | Page(s): 391 | Patreon
Africa keeps thinking about how Binti had followed someone back to Faida’s clan, and had been unable to speak up. The leopard laments that if her daughter hadn’t been interrupted by Faida, she might have mentioned Bibi. Not only that, but things could have been much different as the two could have been friends sooner, and perhaps Binti would still be alive. Bibi flattens her ears, as she notes that Africa has a tendency to relive past scenarios in her head, wondering how they might have played out differently. She tells the leopard to stop doing that because it’s not helpful at this moment. Africa needs to concentrate on Mosi who’s still alive and needs her.
Smiling, Africa realizes Bibi is right, and that she needed to hear the caracal’s words. She thanks the smaller cat as she leaps across the gorge, and gives her a “Good luck!” Embarrassed, Bibi tells the larger cat to stop thanking her already.
Sure, things might have gone differently for Africa had Binti been able to tell her about Bibi. Maybe she wouldn’t have trusted Sabra’s words as much. Or maybe things would have played out exactly the same the moment she went to fight Chui. Who knows? Which is why Bibi makes an excellent point about reliving scenarios, and how they’re not helpful when the here and now is more pressing. In this case, she’s talking about Mosi needing Africa, but in general it’s good advice. Sometimes we have a habit of being stuck in our own thoughts, wondering how an event that’s already happened could have gone differently, if only events had played out disparately.
Sometimes you have to focus on current matters and what needs to be done now, not what should have happened in the past. Again, Bibi continues to be a contender for my favorite character in this story. Perhaps she can share some of that sage advice with Mondo who probably needs to hear it just as much as Africa.
To Catch a Star | Page(s): 571, 572, 573, 574 | Patreon
Lupi notices shafts of sunlight illuminating yellow flowers that form a path and lead the young hybrid wolf to a river. A single shaft of light reveals the silhouette of a fish the young wolf is able to catch. As Lupi eats comfortably, the sun sets and the moon rises. Pale light causes seven lunar followers to grow and the young wolf sleeps next to them. As time passes, they grow into a healthy adult loved and taken care of by both the sun and moon. One day they see a group of Dusky and Nova fighting in the distance. Getting between both groups of wolves, they make a plea for peace. Instead, both sets of wolves unite in order to kill Lupi. Later, the sun and moon find their lifeless, battered body.
This flashback makes a lot more sense now that it has largely played out. Lupi was a hybrid born to a regular Dusky and Nova. The two wolves raised their child together until the rift between both the children of the sun and of the moon became to great to bridge. So they abandoned their pup. In their place, the celestial bodies of both the sun and the moon raised Lupi. They ensured the young wolf was fed, happy, and never felt alone.
Lupi could have probably continued their existence, loved by both celestial bodies. The choice to become a peacemaker was disastrous, but their reasoning came from a good place. The fact that they’re a hybrid shows that Dusky and Nova can get along and even create children together. The irony is that Lupi succeeded in getting both types of wolves to work together to end their life.
I can see why the moon wolf wanted to end the world so badly. These wolves are so bent on settling their grudges and differences with each other with violence, they’d kill anyone who told them to stop. Or perhaps they killed Lupi because they saw him as unnatural, a mixture of Dusky and Nova that shouldn’t be. Considering there are no speech bubbles, the reason for them being murdered is likely up to interpretation.
This is the original legend of Lupi. They weren’t some badass Dusky who led the largest pack around, killed said pack members, then spent the remainder of their life protecting a field of flowers. They aren’t a devout worshiper of the sun who offered their most prized possessions up to the celestial body. They were a hybrid that kept to themselves, tried to do a good thing, and was murdered for it. That’s dark.
I can only guess that at this point the sun and moon somehow contribute to the myths that the Dusky and Nova would carry forward, as a way to honor their adopted child. And as one commenter on DeviantArt suggested, perhaps their soul gets split into two and form the basis of the creation of the sun wolf and the moon wolf. That makes the most sense to me. Doubly so when we see Lupi’s flashback way back on page 207, and they’re both a Nova and Dusky.
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 28, Page 23 | Patreon
Dr. Njeri looks both sad and horrified at Zira’s revelation. Agent Jackson is defiant and tells the Kae-Kariin that he doesn’t think she believes what she’s spewing. He notes how she’s lived among the Earthings, befriended them, eaten their food, and has seen their struggles. Leaning forward and almost yelling, Jackson demands that Zira look Njeri in the eyes and tell him he’s nothing but a slave. Scowling, she looks the African Wild Dog in the eyes, then looks down at the meal she was served earlier, before looking away in a mixture of regret and sadness.
First, I didn’t know Dr. Njeri with sad puppy eyes was the dose of cute I needed. Granted, the scene itself is serious, but the doctor is still a dog, and puppy eyes almost never fail. That said, Jackson’s ploy is damned clever. As Zira and Njeri have been friends for a long time. Telling someone you’ve come to care for that they’re beneath you is only something that a sociopath would probably do. Okpara is not that despite her haughty attitude at times. Njeri is going to be the key to finally getting her to flip, and reveal even more information about the Kae-Kariin and doppelgangers. Who knew he’d turn out to be such an important character since he was first introduced as a scientist taking notes way back in Issue 13?
Lost Scent | Page(s): 62 | Patreon
The guardians leave Motte and Tulpi at the docks and tell them to take care. Tulpi then asks her traveling companion what they should do next in terms of finding something or someone. The Borzoi mix tells the Akita mix to keep her eyes open, keep a low profile, and not to get distracted. Before she can finish that last statement, she notices the smaller dog is gone, and she twitches in annoyance. Meanwhile, Tulpi is fascinated by the seafood market. She dashes around commenting on and sniffing at every thing that catches her eye while PIG follows her.
I deeply appreciate the comedy in this page. As much as Motte and Tulpi trust each other, Tulpi is still going to do her thing. I love how she didn’t even wait to hear the Borzoi’s advice before running off. She left so fast there’s a just an outline of where she was. Motte’s face in the sixth panel is just an amazing mood all on its own. I’m just hoping our spirited little Akita mix doesn’t get herself into any trouble before she returns to Motte’s side. I’m also wondering if she’s never seen seafood or a seafood market before.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 286| Patreon
Antaras and Eve cross paths with Gitta and Prue. The two does have found the corpses of the buck and doe, and are shocked to see dead bodies. Anataras questions where the two have been, and they reveal they were just having a talk and didn’t go far. They try to ask the buck about the bodies, but he cuts them off. He wants to know that they were discussing. Gitta tries to speak, but can’t get the words out.
So Prue informs him that they’re going home. In their eyes, Helevise tricked them, treated them like lackeys instead of students, and the treatment got worse after meeting the Northerner trio. Not only that, but on this journey there are now bodies. So Prue and Gitta just wanted to let Antaras know they’re leaving. They only returned to inform him. The two may have lost all respect for Helevise, but they still respect him. The Northerner buck narrows his eyes at them.
I thought this was Usma and perhaps someone else last page. I figured Gitta and Prue would be long gone after they said they’d be leaving. While I get them respecting Anataras enough to tell him they were leaving, in horrible, horrible hindsight they should have just left. Not only is this particular buck feeling very paranoid about who’s following him, and keeping his group together, but he’s just murdered two deer. Worse, Gitta and Prue just saw the bodies. Although they have no clue on how the pair died, and how it was connected to Anataras having control of Loss, I’m sure he now views them as a liability.
In other words, he’s about to murder these girls to cover his own ass. (Sadly, they’re likely to die without even knowing that Helevise is dead.) Once again, I’m going to guess that on her way back to her father, this is what Usma sees. These two frightened about dead bodies, and just wanting to leave. As they go, he’ll unleash Loss to silence them forever. Not wanting to be next or fearing what Antaras has become, Usma runs and decides to throw her lot in with Nero’s group in order to stop her father. Or he stops her before she can go, and not wanting to kill his own daughter, Anataras instead demands that she spies on them for him. Honestly, I’m thinking it’s more of the former theory. It just makes more sense to me that Usma would just run after discovering how much cruelty her father is capable of for the sake of his plans.
In Nordgarde territory Kargo and Diarko spar with wooden swords. The young Forngrym asks the Jaro mix if he had a father. Kargo replies that he did, sort of. The cub wants to know if that father was mean like his. The answer is yes, and the cub wants to know what happened to him. Kargo says bluntly that he killed his own father. Confused, Diarko looks down and wonders if that’s what he’s supposed to do with his own father. The former outlaw tells the cub that he’s supposed to live his life and not let his hunger for revenge take over. That’s how many have met their ends.
Diarko then notes that Kargo is doing just that with Ranach. Turning away, Kargo insists that its different, the cub doesn’t believe him. The dog calls his adopted son a “sassy cat.” Annoyed the Forngrym cub smacks Kargo in the ankle with the wooden sword and insists that he’s a bear cub. Turning around and grabbing the other end of the stick, the Jaro smiles and says “Understood.”
As much as I wanted to be done with the Asmundr pack scene from last week, I’m not sure if this scene is much better. Maybe it’s because the dialogue here is just so bland. Worse, friends of mine have rewritten said dialogue for fun, and it flows so much better. That’s the dialogue that’s now canon in my mind, not this dull writing. I can sort of get that Kique wanted Kargo and Diarko to have something to bond over, but it feels he could have picked a better subject such as living in harsh conditions or even losing their mothers. (Though Diarko’s mother isn’t dead.)
The subject of having mean fathers isn’t terrible, but Home’s specter of “tell, don’t show” is back again. If we knew that Chieftain Ukraek (remember him?) was Diarko’s father, this conversation would make more sense. However, in the time that Kargo and Rogio were being held prisoner by the Ulvsbane Pride, there was no indication that Diarko was his son or that Feomeh was a partner. (If the Forngrym take committed partners. We know next to nothing about their way of life.) The two never interacted, and Diarko never mentions him before now. The only way a reader would know who the cub’s father actually is would be by reading that fact on the wiki. Either under Diarko’s section on the main characters page, his section in the Nordgarde Tribe page, or Ukraek’s section in the Ulvsbane Pride page. This story should relay that important information on its own and NOT rely on the wiki for readers to figure out who is related to whom.
The same goes for Kargo! He’s actually shown murdering his father, Durinn on page 86 in the second panel. However, you wouldn’t know that if not for a fan compiling all the information on the wiki together and making a family tree. At one point the wiki did show the entirety of the old original Meteor Tribe under Arenak’s reign and deceased members had names. Durinn was listed and him being stabbed by Kargo was his portrait. That’s all been lost to wiki updates because none of the old tribe linage information was kept. Which means readers can’t follow along with the changes. So newer readers of Home wouldn’t know this about Kargo’s father, and in a way it doesn’t completely matter because of how the tribe was run. That said, Diarko is a mystery unless you’ve been keeping up with the wiki.
Anyway, I also have to wonder why the cub would be worried about killing his father when being away from the pride should be enough. As friends have pointed out, there’s an irony is Diarko being rescued from a violent life, raised to hate and hunt dogs, only to end up in a tribe as a warrior where he’s being trained up to fight dogs. Worse, he’s all, but forgotten his mother and is being raised by a former outlaw who never had a chance to have a happy childhood. Honestly, I still think the cub should have gone with his mother to Shiverfall Tribe. At the very least, he and his mother would be surrounded by cats who love each other instead of all the war and drama of Nordegard Tribe.
There’s also irony in Diarko considering himself to be a bear cub. The page I linked above (page 705) has Ukraek give a speech about how bears are close to extinction because of the dogs, and how he’s fighting to keep his pride from suffering a similar fate. Yet Diarko considers himself to be a cub of such a species, both of which has been antagonized by the dogs. And Kargo even killed one when he was still part of Midnightgarde Tribe. Sure, the term was supposed to be endearing, as Kargo’s referred to as a bear, thanks to the spirit’s blessing (or curse), and Diarko is his adopted son. Perhaps Kique should have thought a bit harder about that partial lore considering how badly bears have been treated in this universe.
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In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): | Patreon
Honestly, and I probably mentioned this before, but if Kique was so desperate for Diarko to be adopted by the dogs, he should’ve just kept Feomeh dead. That way, there would be a better reason for him to stay in the pack, instead of simply separating mother from son for no apparent reason.