I went back and forth on considering taking this week off for Thanksgiving. In the end, I decided not to. That said, don’t be surprised if I do take next Monday off. As for this week, we have a full round up. If you live in the United States and are celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful holiday. If you’re not, or you live outside the US, I hope you have a pleasant Thursday.
In comic news, The Dragon Slayer is gone from ComicFury. If you enjoyed TDS, I would suggest downloading what pages you can from DeviantArt while it’s still there. I hope Sleepy doesn’t remove them from DA, but I have the feeling she wants to break with this comic. That said, the last 40 pages are not on DA, so that’s huge chunk of pages that are just gone, including comments. I will say, people have managed to save the comic in its entirety, and it has been archived on The Wayback Machine. A big thank you to Sinceredragonslander and their readers for sharing the link and the news. Again, save these pages too if you like TDS or just want to preserve it.
I will say, I did not comment on The Dragon Slayer since around page 18 or 19 on DA, and as I’ve said multiple times, I do not have a CF account (nor do I want one). However, comics being pulled down and taking comments with them are one of the reasons I started this blog over six years ago. Sometimes, it’s just nice to have your own space in order to leave commentary on media that interests you.
Africa | Page(s): 449 | Patreon
Amazingly, after being mobbed by her own clan Faida is still alive. The rest of the hyenas allow her to leave, and go off to die in peace. It certainly is better than Wema’s pondering over if the clan would eat their former matriarch. Fikra wisely points out, why bother when they have an entire elephant to themselves. Of course, the wild dog is in agreement with Faida here, as the carcass is contaminating the water and making the other animals sick. Even though Nuru has claimed they’re immune, the wild dogs have noted how aggressive the hyenas seem, acting more like the lions and less like themselves.
It’s possible that the hyenas have picked up a virus or bacteria that affect them neurologically. What that disease is, I have no clue. (Feel free to speculate in the comments section while its open.) Though as several readers pointed out, it is odd that they’re all fighting over meat when so much of it is already available. Anyway, good luck to Nuru as the new matriarch. Sounds like she’s going to really need it once their source of food either runs out, or is too far gone to be edible.
What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 941 – 943 | Patreon
I’m glad Kelp certainly has Krill’s number in regard to him being a sore loser. That said, I do find it interesting that Krill is using Hake’s transition to get a rise out of him. Not in a transphobic sort of way, but as a way to gripe about all the privileges he perceives the prince to have. I do like Kelp’s quip that other cats have changed their gender, and Krill being dull, probably never even realized. That said, it’s good to see the cats taking Hake’s change well.
There’s not much else to digest from this scene, other than the younger cats looking a lot larger, and pretty close to their adult sizes, and the King looking worse for wear. We also see his new lionheart, Snapper. Meanwhile, Auklet is nowhere to be seen at the moment. I’m guessing he wanted to spend some time away from his homicidal (and genocidal) brother.
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 29, Page: 34 | Patreon
Jackson was more than willing to risk innocent people who may have been caught between the supporters of the Black Idol and the Kae-Kirin. Yet, Melissa was never supposed to be a part of that risky plan. On one hand, I get that Mel is a valuable member of the team, but on the other hand letting people get caught in the cross-fire leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My respect for Jackson went down a few notches, even if there’s a reason for his cruelty.
Otherwise, it’s fascinating to see that he’s been collaborating with Tazim-Ta’ash. I guess that was where the mysterious cats in the bag message came from. Even so, I feel like he may have been played by Tazim, as the creature knew Melissa had Kenazil and needed the black dog away from the other gods. Now it seems like the tiger is dead, and even Julia seems to have given up on a rescue attempt.
The only question left to ask is, what now?
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): 69 – 70 | Patreon
RIP in advance to that random cat tossed into the arena by the guards. This poor guy doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s waiting for him. But we in the audience know damned well what’s about to happen. This poor feline is about to become Therian chow. That pink mist insures this cat won’t be able to leave, or really run. And even if he could, armed guards are waiting.
On the nobles’ side, I find it interesting that the councilwoman and one guy are smiling at the events, while two others have stone-cold expressions. Perhaps the two smiling cats enjoy these games immensely, while it’s just business for the other two. I’d love to see the nobles’ reactions when this night as all said and done. Anyway, I can’t wait to see Maximus the Revenant in the fur.
Lost Scent | Page(s): 105 | Patreon
Amazingly, Tulpi opens up to Piper. She turns to self-harm when she can’t literally run away from her problems. We then learn, Piper recognizes the signs because she has a similar habit. Not one of crippling anxiety, but a drive to push herself hard back when she was a race dog. Her goal of being number one (and failing to grab the top spot) was so overwhelming that she ran to the point of bleeding. She often placed second in these races despite having one underdeveloped front leg, but didn’t recognize how amazing that was. This is quite the page on how habits or feelings taken to the extreme can be physically destructive. I’m looking forward to reading how Piper dealt with that aspect of herself. Maybe she can pass a few words of wisdom on to Tulpi.
On a lighter note, I was struggling to guess Piper’s breed. She seemed rather small, then it hit me on this page. She’s a Whippet. I had no idea they were that much smaller than Greyhounds. Hell, she’s smaller than Tulpi. So I looked up the average size of a Whippet and an Akita. The sizes check out. And it makes sense that dogs would want to do what they were bred for, even in a post-apocalyptic world. I also missed the fact that one of Piper’s front legs was smaller than the other until I read the comments on the page.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 334 | Patreon
We are back to the present after Usma relayed her story to the rest of the group. I’d nearly forgotten about it, but of all the deer, Kasko can most relate to Usma in terms of meeting Loss. If you remember when a good chunk of his herd died from a mysterious disease. Now that we’re learning what it’s actually like being in the presence of Loss (when Antaras isn’t siccing him on you). Basically instant physical coldness and depression. I do love how despite everything Usma went through, she insists that their encounters with the god wasn’t something that can be compared. Loss is loss.
Having said all that, can Nero please sit the hell down? His pacing in the background of each panel is giving me restless anxiety. I guess that’s a sign of him not trusting Usma, and being ready for action in case Antaras did follow. Or maybe he just doesn’t know what to do with the information Usma relayed, so he’s just pacing around.
This page confirms that Solar Stag Tribe forcibly removed Lowglade Tribe for their glowing paint. I’ll remind you that despite Axi trying to soften the blow by stating the capital probably moved the dogs instead of killing them, the forced removal of others from their land is still considered genocide. This doesn’t paint SST in a better light, except if they’re taken down there’s a chance Lowglade could return home and rebuild. Of course, I’m with Bhima and the others’ suspicion regarding SST. If they were willing to kill the Forngryms, why not the Bayou tribe? Unless of course the difference being the dogs are considered civilized while the big cats aren’t. Her argument isn’t helped by the direction of her eyes, as she’s looking up while making said claim almost as if she has to think hard about it. You know, instead of looking the dog she’s actually talking to in the eye.
I’m amazed that no one said anything about Axi’s presence sooner. Or even wondered if she might be spying for the Guild and Solar Stag. Fortunately for them, she’s not. She’s just here because she was (rightfully) kicked out of the Guild for a lack of professionalism. Now she’s butthurt, and insists she only wanted to keep the others safe. Nevermind the fact that she decided not to warn Ronja that dogs were gathering on Meteor Tribe territory, and she insisted on telling the capital about Feomeh instead of looking the other way regarding a single Forngrym. The consequences of taking in the Forngrym can’t be good for Shiverfall Tribe and their relationship to the capital. You can’t tell me that this dog’s pride wasn’t deeply wounded, and she wants to extract revenge via the rebellion.
Ranach has a point about the hording of resources for themselves, even though if he were in their position he’d likely do the same. But hey, this story needs a villain now that Marduk is dead, and Solar Stag Tribe will have to do for the moment.
Off for the week:
Nothing
On hiatus:
Nothing
i’m pretty stumped on what the disease is in Africa. i love pandemic storys and what weird and horrifying versions of diseases there are and nothings fitting well to the symptoms.
in the specifics of being in africa – affecting wildlife- coughing, maybe aggression, and various species.
coughing for many african(ish) diseases are usually connected to all other flu symptoms, which i think would be showing by now.
aggression is connected to rabies, but i don’t think its that.
i actually think the aggression is because they had a leader falling apart on them in the middle of a starving drought. not a disease symptom.
your leader is uselessly sending out search party’s for a, what should be an uninvolved (assumed dead), leopard cub. had them care for a dying cheetah they couldn’t eat. fighting lions for leopards. in the hopes they would join for the lion war (the clan didn’t want at all). over a crazy idea of the end of the world.
dealing with all that + an extremely dire drought while starving and watching your babies starve will drive a massive tsunami of bitter resentment.
now said same leader is telling you to wait in line because “there’s more then enough.” and while possibly right. the clan is in survival mode of “I’m not going back to desperate starvation. I’ll bite off someone else’s leg to prevent that.” and unfortunately that was fraida basically.
another of note is the fear of the lions discovering them and suddenly a king of the hill scenario breaks out. which creates paranoia gorging within the clan.
anyway, back to the disease. just about everything else is specific species wise, like distemper for canines or toxicplasmosis for cats. swine fever, or horse(cattle and such) fever. or transmission can go from raw meat, but then gets to involving flu symptoms or parasites leading to things like vomiting/ gut issues, but no coughing.
right now my only ultimate guess is made up generic disease.
caused by not so much from the elephant carcass, but from the disgusting water the drought has helped make. swamps are full of bacteria and when the water goes it can smell absolutely vile. swamps can preserve rotten things under its water for YEARS. imagine decades worth of water logged sink food, rotten with bacteria suddenly exposed under the African sun in a heat wave. continuously cooking day after day in a trickle of water all the animals share. with the elephant carcass soaking in it for days on top of that.
I like your idea of a generic fictional disease, combined with frustration with Faida. Having that elephant die in the swamp during a drought made everything worse for everyone.