So it turns out that what I thought was bad head cold was actually Covid-19. I haven’t been to work in a week, as I stayed home to recover and quarantine. The latest Covid test I took still shows a positive reading, albeit a weak one. Unfortunately, I need to go back to work for the sake of earning an income. I had been masking (and will continue to mask), and the lesson learned is to not take my mask off, even when I’m working alone.
As for the round ups, I think I’m going to experiment with shorter write-ups that skip the recap. I’ll try it for a few weeks and see which style I prefer more. Though I’m leaning toward skipping the recap, as it streamlines the writing process for me.
On an unrelated note, if any of you are on Twitch, would you consider giving my gaming channel a follow? I’m two followers away from a 200 follower goal, and once I reach that goal I’ll be playing a nearly 30-year-old game called Comix Zone. I’d love to get started on that game this upcoming Sunday, seeing how I just wrapped up SteamWorld Heist, which I’ve been playing since September.
Africa | Page(s): 393 | Patreon
After a long period of time, it’s nice to see the mostly grown pups banter back and forth. African Wild Dog culture as Arven depicts it is fascinating, as everything relates to the military. Military dogma, if you will. It looks like the younger pups will be getting the spoils of the kill, as they need it more. Even though Kitendo, Thabiti, and Fikra are still pups in a sense (teenagers or young adults is probably a more accurate term). They may be still learning, but these guys are old enough to teach a younger generation survival skills.
I have to admit, Kitendo’s nickname “Survival Kit” is pretty amusing, though Thabiti isn’t impressed. Fortunately for the group, Fikra is actually doing a good job of listening out for danger while they banter. It reminds me of when I’m at work, and everyone’s mostly just talking. Occasionally I find myself disinterested enough in everyone else that I keep working. I’m curious as to what she has found and why she finds it to be weird. Judging from her expression, danger is at least off the table.
To Catch a Star | Page(s): 579, 580, 581, 582 | Patreon
Lupi has been unconscious for quite a while. Not only have Danger’s pups been born and are moving around with their eyes open, they can also speak. The moon wolf appears a bit older now as well. When the sun wolf asked if their lunar counterpart had seen, I assumed they meant the pup’s eyes being open. Now, I realize Lupi was actually talking about the legend of the original Lupi. They explain to the moon about how the Dusky and Nova hybrid was shared between them, and how they were neither the sun nor the moon. The sun and moon wolves are both named Lupi, and will unite the Dusky and Nova to bring the moon’s celestial body back. I admit Sun Lupi’s speech was confusing, and I had to read it several times.
Even so, I’m glad that Moon Lupi will be traveling with the sun, and that they will be allowed to live, love, and make friends in a new world. Other than a walk around the pack (perhaps to say goodbye), we see how the combined pack is doing. A good number of Supernova have decided to stay with Cloud’s pack, and the cool-colored Nova that were separated from their families have been reunited. Meanwhile, Danger, Tussle and Sweep have also stayed. It’s a wholesome look at the new world that Lupi is trying to create. And I just love how Moon Lupi is taken care of by the pack. Such a huge difference from how they were mistreated in their previous life.
I just wonder if anyone else will join both sets of Lupi on their journey. I’d imagine Hearth and Trouble might accompany them.
On a small note, I am mildly annoyed at how Moon Lupi has reappeared as a puppy without explanation while Sun Lupi always appeared as an adult. Even if we blame it on the moon being shattered, while the sun is still around, how does that explain the original Moon Lupi? Are we to assume they were also captured as a pup, and just abused and left to rot in that makeshift jail as they got older? I feel like this is a detail that was either rushed, or poorly though out. Given Sleepy’s comments on DeviantArt about there not being time to develop a proper arc for the moon wolf, I guess we’re just going with rushed. Now that To Catch a Star is done on Patreon, I hope there’s a proper Q and A when all of the pages are public.
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 28, Page 25 | Patreon
I’m glad Jackson finally got Okpara to crack and start talking. What she’s revealed is quite unexpected. I seriously thought these were the Kae-Kariin Leister was trying to get back to in the 1800s. By that I mean, they had come back to Earth in order to infiltrate society to stop the Black Idol by replacing or becoming powerful officials from the shadows. In reality, someone else woke up the Kae-Kariin in stasis and cultivated a small clan on Earth. Judging from the silhouette behind Okpara, the man who brought them back to life was an insectoid who’s over 200 years old. Since the current day in The Order of the Black Dog is the mid-2030s, it is safe to assume 200 years ago was in the 1800s.
The only person who fits this description is Hedgeworth. I assumed that after Leister told him about the secret of the Earthings, and that they all were once part of the Black Idol, he killed Leister. Afterward, he was depressed and took his own life. It turns out he may have actually run off with the Kae-Kariin and cultivated them for his own needs. It makes sense given how no one was found in stasis in the modern day. I’m assuming he could have run off to the Moon base, or somewhere else on Earth with the Kae-Kariin. How did Hedgeworth solve the issue of his species’ extremely short lifespans? I’m willing to bet he merged himself with The Black Idol which explains why he’s lived for an unusually long time, even for regular Earthlings. The silhouette behind Okpara is a good clue on what he now looks like– likely feral in form, but retaining his intelligence and generational knowledge.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 288| Patreon
I would have been more shocked by this page had Antaras not killed Gitta and Prue. The only thing that is surprising is his use of their scents on Helevise’s corpse to justify murdering them. As eagle-eyed readers have pointed out, someone was spying on their conversation about leaving, and could have taken their scent and placed it on Helevise to frame them for the murder. Likely the same buck who murdered the old doe. As Antaras uses their confession of being upset with the Caller as justification for the two lives he’s going to take, these girls have no clue what’s happening.
I believe they’re genuinely confused about Helevise being dead, and only stopped in to say their goodbyes. They certainly had no idea about Loss, as Antaras unleashes the god on them. As its open maw stares into them, they’re just awed and curious about it, having no idea they’re about to die. Which depending on how you look at it, is a great mercy or is really fucked up. Of course, I’m certain the Northerner buck would have found another reason to kill them off, as he’s keen on keeping his plans close to his chest now that he knows they’re being followed. Killing these two ladies also serves as a display of power for his would be pursuers.
Until it’s disproven, I still stand by my theory that this is what Usma sees on her way back to her father. His callousness is what scares her and causes her to defect. If this is the case, will Antaras move on without his daughter, or will he go looking for her given how much she knows?
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): 33, 34| Patreon
I was correct in my theory that Kay wouldn’t be able to leave The Lion’s Den because of the Therian’s musk. I was also right about Harzuk not stopping the feline in order to let her fail. Harzuk struggling not to laugh in the third panel on page 33 was funny. I love when ITLD exaggerates facial expressions for comedic effect. Still, Kay failing to leave even by boat should have been obvious to anyone who’s read The Wolf’s Veil. I expected her boat to just reappear at the docks, not forcefully be thrown back with her and the vessel smashing into the pier. Any Critter that breathes in the Therian’s musk is just forcefully held in a location. Crazy that the musk can even control the water.
I fully expect Harzuk to give a Kay an “I told you so,” after she’s done laughing at the former royal.
I just can’t get over the fact that Ronja is leaving the training of her daughters to Kargo, even after watching him make Diarko bleed. I feel like if blood is drawn during a training session, the instructor might be too intense or not great at their job. But Kargo is a manly man, and only he’s capable of toughing up Ronja’s weak daughters, I guess. At the very least, it would make more sense to me if she’d trained them herself (she did train under Johaan in Asmundr), and taught them the basics. Then after that, they could complete their training with Kargo. Instead, the Viscountess has forgotten all her training from the previous comic, and this is too much for her to handle, thus Kargo has to do it. Couldn’t Fremja have trained or even Ferah while she’s visiting? Probably, but that’s too much girl power for Kique’s tastes.
At least Kargo’s right about letting the girls know about Ranach. As someone who was raised by a single mother, it’s far kinder to let your kids know about their father even if he’s not in their lives, rather than wondering who he could be. That includes informing them of the type of person he is. (And thankfully my own father wasn’t someone awful like Ranach, but he was something of a deadbeat until I was nearly an adult.) Given Ronja’s been paired with Fraujar, he can easily be the girls’ stepfather. Their relationship can be just as solid as if he were their biological father. (Again, speaking from experience with my own stepfather.) In a better story, he’d already be shown filling this role, already having experience with his children. Sadly, this is Home, so that scenario will never be seen on screen.
As for Rogio bringing up his threesome proposal suggestion, I’d almost forgotten that he dropped this selfish request on Roamer. It’s blatant that Roamer and Kargo still have feelings for each other, and are a better match than Roamer and Rogio. Of course, Rogio by way of being Kique’s self-insert wants to please himself and perhaps the audience by having all three of them be together. Instead, I’m sure a good number of people in the audience would rather see Roamer break up with Rogio, and go with Kargo– a much better and more considerate mate. That will never happen, as Kique has this obsession with wanting the audience to love Rogio as much as he does, which is impossible. Not only because people have different tastes, especially in characters, but Rogio isn’t a good person. Yet Kique refuses to see this or take any criticism of the character to heart, so we have this threesome that will be forced upon us. The last panel of this page is a reminder that it’s coming.
On hiatus:
Lost Scent | Page(s): | Patreon
