I’m back after a badly needed break. Last weekend was extremely busy, and the second half of my week consisted of a vacation. I managed to relax and play a lot of the recently released Monster Hunter Wilds.
Also, In The Lion’s Den might be on hiatus for an unknown amount of time.
As for this week’s roundup, for my sanity I’m not going to double up on my posting.
Africa | Page(s): 412 | Patreon
It turns out the puddle of water Mondo fell into smells like carrion and that’s a problem for the small cats. The African Wild Dogs were already too close for comfort. Who knows what might come after them next? Bibi makes the correct choice of cleaning the serval off, not wanting anything to happen to him. I suspect that the water on him tastes gross, but she’ll likely be fine.
What’s nice about this interaction is that we see Mondo at ease and purring for the first time in a while. I don’t think Bibi reminds him of Sabra, but being taken care of by a cat closer to his size must be comforting. I don’t know if the kitten will reveal his true feelings to the caracal, but it must be nice for him to finally be a peace after a tumultuous few days.
What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 866, 867, 868 | Patreon
I wasn’t expecting Trout to reveal to Skua The Tide isn’t real. I just thought he’d continue to swear to protect her, and she’d be content with that. Instead, she tells him everything is a lie. More surprisingly, he doesn’t believe it. One could argue that as her lionheart, he should have put everything together as he was often privy to Trout and Sturgeon’s conversations. Except Arual has mentioned that he’s not very smart. Thinking about it, Skua also reacts how most people would if someone told them their religion was a lie– they simply wouldn’t believe the truth. So it’s not shocking that he’s trying to convince Trout that she and Sturgeon are wrong about The Tide.
Him enabling his queen won’t end well. As I said before, she’s going to push away everyone who would give her constructive feedback, and call out her weaknesses. Only the sycophants that feed into her worst impulses will be left. I wouldn’t be surprised that by the end of What Lurks Beneath, someone makes a third attempt on Trout’s life.
Lost Scent | Page(s): 78 | Patreon
Turns out a dour fellow like Caleb is a shit talker who got himself in to trouble. He certainly radiates that type of personality. Then, when he’s called out, he bails out of the conversation. When Tulpi refers to her brother and how he likes to make fun of others, I’m not sure if she’s referring to Caleb or the male twin. Either way, she launches into one of her long-winded stories and I can only wonder if she’ll botch the joke’s punchline. This could go either way. I just hope the group laughs with her, and not at her. Doubly so because she and Motte look like they’re having such a great time with the group. It would be heartbreaking to see the Akita-mix have her attempt at friendliness shut down by anxiety if she’s being made fun of. Or maybe I’m reading too much into the situation and she’ll continue to have a wonderful night.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 302 | Patreon
I had expected Iralee to have left the herd, but she’s stuck around. By her bringing back the starshoot flower, she solves my question about ending the suffering of the elders. Well, the herd’s grandsire at least. I have to say the reveal of what the flower does is as brilliant as it is succinct. In just a single panel one of the elders tells a backstory of child abuse at the hooves of her father, and how her mother poisoned him with the starshoot. Using the plant doesn’t guarantee a painless death, but it’s better than suffering and being unable to die naturally.
At this point the old doe encourages Iralee, and I can only guess she has to be the one to do so. As I mentioned a few posts back, the subject of putting one’s own family down is likely too painful to bear– even if it ends the suffering. It’s much easier to ask someone else to do it, and this is likely a burden Iralee is willing to carry.
The setting sun and the starry night just set the mood for this page so very well. The Caller has come to release the old and suffering from their misery in the place of Loss, and will send them off into the night. It’s literally their moment of sunset as they return to the sky. I also wonder if anyone else will want to take the starshoot, or will an assisted death be reserved for deer doing as badly as the old buck? Either way, the world building in Golden Shrike continues to be superb.
After a scene change we’re back to Roamer and Rogio. For whatever reason Roamer waited until morning to informer Rogio that he locked lips with Kargo the previous day. Feels like that should have been a conversation that happened before bed, especially since this entire polycule plan was Rogio’s. Even so, Roamer’s desire for it all to go well isn’t unreasonable, nor is the three of them talking about said plans. Communication is sorely missing in Home, that’s for sure.
Of course that conversation doesn’t happen immediately, as the pair find Kargo training Diarko and Elvind. The lead warrior seems like the only dog in the tribe actually doing work. That aside, I found myself annoyed at his quip that their cub is growing up too fast. First, it would be nice not to hear that line reused when it comes to fathers and their kids in the Asmundr universe. Johan said nearly the same line to Ronja. Why is anger the only emotion that comes to mind in this world when a father thinks about their kids growing up?
Second, Diarko belonging to these three dogs is kind of insulting since he still has a mother who’s very much alive. I’ll forever remain salty over the unrealistic notion that she’d just hand her cub over to three strangers in an unfamiliar tribe, while being taken to a tribe filled with other felines. Nevermind that the surviving Forngrym are all raised to think of dogs as lesser, especially since said dogs are responsible for their genocide. While Diarko might be too young to know this, his mother absolutely should have reservations about the dogs. This subplot of him being kept by the Meteor Tribe/Nordgarde Tribe would make way more sense if his mother had died, and he refused go with the Taiga Lions to Shiverfall Tribe.
Anyway, I guess the threesome will discuss the logistics of officially becoming a throuple next page. Oh boy.
On a better note, this comment made me chuckle, along with poor Elvind’s expression as she’s being squished.
On hiatus:
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): 45, 46| Patreon
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 29, Page: | Patreon
copied over from DA:
who says they’re angry watching their child grow up??? sad/ happy are like the # 1/ # 2 reasons.
angry makes it sound like they hate who their kid is becoming. that’s just awful with the whole racist/ speciest views toward the tigers in the background.
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i was really bummed thinking kique was going to do the cliche -mom dies and kids orphaned- and was happy she actually lived. but now after this its like, why bother? she should have just died at this point.
I read once that Diarko’s mom was originally going to die and Kique changed it due complaints not to be seen as something sexist. The end result made the whole thing even more sexist than the mother dying. Hilarious
Amazing how he fucked that up.
Yeah, that just makes no sense to me. And I’m hoping Kargo hating what his kid’s becoming as a person is not what Kique intended, because if it is, yikes.
Somehow Kique making her live is even worse than if she had died. Just wow.
You just know what kind of views this guy has. A mother giving up her son to three guys and the narrative taking it as a very good thing.