Today is a holiday in the United States. Perfect for not getting behind in my quest to get these blog posts out on Mondays.
On a fun side note, I’ve noticed DeviantArt has this habit of not showing me deviations from some artists I follow. I nearly missed this week’s update for Friends with a Monster on the desktop version of the website.
Africa | Page(s): 470 | Patreon
I completely understand Mosi’s eagerness at taking on Chui in order for him and Africa to get their territory back. He’s right that the pair have the numbers. But as I said last week, Africa got whipped by Chui, and Mosi was easily pinned by his mother when she didn’t recognize him. Granted, Mosi was likely holding back because that was his mother, but Chui is bigger and stronger than both of them. And our protagonist is right, the last time she rushed in to take her territory back, it didn’t go well.
Additionally, there is the case of Mosi’s injuries. He can’t run much, and Chui would likely use said injuries against him, as well as take delight in killing Africa’s remaining child. That said, Mosi is in that interesting stage of life between cubhood and adulthood. You feel like you can take on anything, the world is yours, and everything has to be done now or else the chance to do so will be lost forever. Ah, teenagers. Mosi is not as ready as he’ll ever be. The kid isn’t even a year old yet! Needless to say he’s not done growing, and needs to pack on muscle before he can even think about taking on a full-grown leopard. Even then, Chui has something he doesn’t– life experience.
Granted, he spent a lot of time being cared for by humans. Still, I’d like to think he learned a thing or two from his time with Faida, and wandering around to find his own territory. But between his amorality, cunning, and the extreme investment humans have in him, he’s a dangerous opponent. I can only hope that Mosi heeds Africa’s words.
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 30 Page(s): 8 | Patreon
Even after all this tragedy, Jackson has a mission for Julia. To be fair, he’s asking for her consent in the matter of tying up a loose end. That said, what on Earth could the government agent want from the grieving wolf? Will he ask her to explore the Lunar Base now that the Black Idol has been devoured? Or is it some other pressing matter that he can’t handle himself?
As all this is happening, the scientists in the facility are sorting the dead bodies, and there’s an unidentified scientist among them. Did someone unknown slip in during the crossfire? Or is there some confusion among who were the known doppelgängers?
Lost Scent | Page(s): 122 | Patreon
The traveling scenes and silent panels on this page are gorgeous. I really like the huge cloud formation in the second panel. The forth panel is also wonderfully serene with the stars and the mountain range in the background. It’s also the perfect backdrop to Tulpi finally starting a conversation with Motte. It took a few days of brooding, but I’m glad the Akita-mix is finally ready to talk to her traveling companion.
The last panel all but relays her fear of how Motte was so carefree with Morgan. It’s a side of the Borzoi-mix that Tulpi hasn’t seen during their travels. It is easy to see why she’s perhaps afraid that her friend might return to the Shearwater at some point, and more importantly she might miss her chance at love. Of course this is Tulpi projecting her fears on to Motte, and we have no idea what the larger dog really wants, aside from escaping her old life.
I’m hyped about where this conversation could possibly go. Part of me hopes this is where Tulpi finally gets her feelings out and doesn’t dodge a needed heart-to-heart.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 360 | Patreon
Runi is trying to rationalize everything that the group has gone through leading up to Usma joining them. On the surface it sounds like an idealistic destiny being fulfilled, as directed by Karuna himself. There’s meaning behind all the hardship suffered. However, Usma is absolutely correct. If all this suffering was meant to be, then their god is cruel.
After all, while Nero and Runi may have deserted their herd because of stubbornness on Nero’s part, Kasko, Usma, and even Boneslav’s situations are a tragedy. Kasko only left his home herd because of the sudden disease that took his mother and a good chunk of the herd, and his sire being unwilling to care for the sick and dying. Boneslav’s mouth has to suffer not only the hatred of other deer, but the loss of newborns because of the missing gods. Those missing gods being the reason Nero and company were sent to Skypeak. And Usma. Oh, Usma. Had Antaras not been so selfish and wanting to destructively hold on any part of Oudia, the gods would not have gone missing, kicking off much of this entire adventure. Which again roped in Nero and his friends with vague instructions from the head god.
At this point, I’m positive it was Karuna himself that sent down the snowstorm that killed Oudia and all the Grasslanders in that March. (He did mention he was bored.) If so, then he’s the one responsible for a massive tragedy that has touched all deerkind. So yes, while the current group getting together was something good that happened, it doesn’t make the circumstances any less cruel.
On a more horrifying note, it seems as if Antaras has kidnapped Iralee by force. Given the cut on her head, he knocked her out. Why he’s trying to be cordial now is beyond me. She’s already given him her answer. That said, I guess he’s just that desperate to have a God-caller in his pocket. I’m just glad the worst case scenario of him using Loss on her hasn’t happened. And hopefully it won’t.
As expected Sumersaga and Elvind have rushed to Ronja to tell their mother that Naeva is missing. Also, everyone starts looking for her. The morning sky is also quite beautiful. That’s about where much of the positivity on this page ends.
What gets me is how passive Ronja is here. She’s the leader of Nordgarde Tribe and instead of taking charge, everyone else seems to be doing the questioning for her while she just yells for her pup. Fraujar and Vigr question Raun, and Rogio that suggests Naeva may have left to look for Ranach. Instead of coming up with a search party solution or anything at all, Ronja just helplessly turns to Fraujar for answers. In short, it feels like everyone else is leading the tribe except its leader.
I’m certain I’ll get a few comments pointing out the author’s sexism, so I might as well address it here. It’s funny how Kique wants it both ways. He wants the women in his comic to have leadership roles so it doesn’t get smacked with the misogyny label. Then he makes a good number of those women in leadership roles either terrible at them, or mostly submissive to a man. Mostly because he doesn’t seem to enjoy writing women characters (as stated by him in past comments). It’s a catch-22 of his own making. I suppose the only characters who escape the worst of this in Home are Jahla and Lykenia. Oh, and Aira only because she’s been largely written out of this story.
Honestly, my advice would be to write their role as largely gender-neutral or male to get around the lack of enjoyment, then do research to fill in a sex or gender role if it’s even needed. But we all know Kique doesn’t like to do research, which is a larger problem, again of his own making. If you’re pursuing your own creative endeavors, please don’t skip the research phase.
On a lighter note, I don’t think it’s really fair to blame Raun for a pup running away. He’s a single dog watching the territory (at the time). And yes it wasn’t hard for Naeva to slip by using the simple trick of not lighting a torch at the entrance. Maybe the tribe ought to have two dogs on guard duty at night when it’s harder to see. After all, Nordgarde has five warriors, and ONE guard. Why can’t one of those warriors do double duty as a guard at night? Anyway, less yelling at Raun, more tracking down Naeva, please.
One last nag before I go. I noticed on the Wiki no one has updated the markings for Nordgarde in ages. We don’t even have markings for the Guard position on the Wiki.
Off for the week:
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): | Patreon
On hiatus:
What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): | Patreon
Related posts:
TWWR Round up 04/22/2024– A Creeping sense of Loss
TWWR Round up 05/06/2024– When the Plot Armor Gets Going
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its also really dumb that the home dogs are scrambling on the search. these dogs can track herds but don’t go “hey, we should look around the tent for tracks or disturbed brush on possibly where she went.”
its just – lets shout her name around and interrogate the one guard of why he didin’t see a child sneaking out.
Yeah, I love when the plot makes them already dumber than they need to act. Why is Fraujar the only suggesting they actually track her? They should have been doing that since the girls ran to Ronja. X_X