TWWR Round up 04/22/2024– A Creeping sense of Loss

Africa | Page(s): 368 | Patreon

Africa trembles as she finally recognizes Mosi. For his part, her son grimaces and turns to leave with an “I’m sorry.” Before he can get far, his mother hugs him, much to his surprise and Mondo’s confusion. As Mosi leans into Africa’s hug, she lets him know she missed him.

Finally, a moment of triumph for Africa. After months of searching, over 200 pages for readers, and nearly five years in real time, these two are reunited. I’m sure Mosi feared Africa would be angry with him, especially after trying to attack Mondo, but he’s likely shocked and relieved that his mother missed him. The ideal situation would be to have the family return to something resembling life before the lions’ attack. Of course that’s likely not going to happen as Mondo is not Binti, and Mosi has endured way too much suffering in his short life. I’m not sure that he’ll want to stay with Africa either because she’s raising Mondo, or because he feels apprehensive about returning home after living alone (with help from Bibi) for so long.

To Catch a Star | Page(s): 483, 484, 485, 486 | Patreon

Shadow attacks Takedown, but only manages to get a mouthful of his hair. He easily shakes her off while grabbing her underside. Flipping the Nova on her back, he begins to bite into her belly. Quivering in absolute fear, Lupi creeps toward the fighting wolves. They muster their courage and bite Takedown’s ear. The large Dusky counterattacks the sun wolf by chomping down on their front leg. However, Lupi’s actions work as Shadow is now free and uses her hind legs to kick Takedown. Unfortunately, he manages to push past her efforts and grabs her throat. Instead of a quick kill, he’s intent to make her suffer by slowly strangling her. Lupi can only cry as they lick the nasty wound on their foreleg.

With blank eyes Backlash observes the situation. He looks to Lupi, then his older brother as he chokes Shadow. The Lost Dusky moves forward until he bumps into Takedown’s face. Lifting his head and bearing his fangs, Backlash’s lower canine snags his brother’s remaining eye. Screaming in pain, Takedown releases Shadow. After gasping for air, she wastes no time in latching on to her attacker and pushing him toward the edge of a cliff.

I’m a little disappointed in how poorly Shadow has squared off with Takedown. I was worried that she’d have a hard time fighting because of her grief, especially with an opponent as vicious as Backlash’s older brother. Additionally, I’m starting to think that even though Shadow fought a lot of other wolves (mostly other Nova or Supernova), none of them were quite as nasty as Takedown. Still, it’s frustrating to see the best chance of getting rid of this self-declared alpha getting her ass handed to her. If Shadow had been in a better state of mind, she wouldn’t have made so many mistakes, like missing Takedown’s throat when she had a clear shot. As for Lupi, it’s heartwarming to see them try to help Shadow, but they have no fighting experience so they realistically couldn’t do much. (The only real power we’ve seen Lupi use other than teleportation via stars is the ability to shine like the sun.)

As for Lost Backlash, I’m not sure if he was trying to help Takedown with strangling Shadow or if he was trying to help free his friend. It has never been made clear how much of a person remains behind once they wake up as a Lost, other than general aspects of their personality. So whether Backlash was trying to help or hinder his brother, the result is the same– his good eye is now damaged. I find the scene to be highly ironic regardless of intention. Backlash trusted Takedown wouldn’t hurt him, which is why he completely dropped his guard. That assumption cost him his life. Likewise, Takedown allowed Backlash to get so close to his face because he figured his Lost brother was no threat to him and also paid dearly for the assumption.

I’m still worried that before Takedown goes off that cliff, he may get one last good attack in on Shadow. Or they may go over the cliff together. Heck, she may even die from blood loss because of her wounds. I just don’t see her getting out of this scenario alive. We also know about the vindictive nature of Backlash’s older brother and that earlier foreshadowing.

Lost Scent | Page(s): 48 | Patreon

Another dog enters the picture and remarks that Motte is back on her paws. (According to Chaluny on DA, this dog is a patron cameo and her name is Holly.) The best cure is a good night’s sleep. Tulpi also adds bone broth, to which Holly repeats. Resting a paw on the new dog’s shoulder, Motte asks her if any other dogs showed up after they arrived. Amused, Holly replies that they rarely get visitors during the winter and that the traveling duo are the first visitors they’ve had in two months. The Borzoi-mix is satisfied with the answer and tells Tulpi to pack their stuff, as they’re leaving. Holly and Tulpi are surprised. The Akita-mix tells her larger friend that she ought to rest for a few more days, and they don’t even know which direction they ought to take. The new dog asks where they want to go.

On a quick note, I absolutely adore Holly’s design. Her beard tied up like a ponytail is both adorable, and kind of badass. I can’t think of any other examples of dogs having their beards tied up like this.

I figured Motte would want to keep moving, and my expectations were spot on. It’s pretty wreckless to want to travel right after waking up after being out with a fever for days. I guess people with a destination in mind just have to get there, even if resting is the smarter course of action. It reminds me of when my mother-in-law ended up in the hospital for a few days because dehydration. She recovered quickly, but the first thing she wanted to do after getting out of the hospital was have me do her taxes because the April 15 deadline was a little over a week away. So yes, I’m not surprised that Motte wants to get away from whatever dogs she fears are chasing her. Still, if she’s not careful, she might end up finding herself collapsed all over again. The next time, friendly dogs might not be nearby to help.

Golden Shrike | Page(s): 261 | Patreon

The buck charges at Antaras in his attempt to get to Eve. For his part, Antaras calmly stands his ground as a dark shadow creeps into the irises of his eyes. The same dark shadow emerges from the ring around his tine. The skull of a deer with a gapping mouth and empty eye and nostril sockets illuminated with blue light emerge from the ring. This is Loss and he lunges toward the buck. As the darkness surrounds the deer, his eyes roll into the back his head and the same shadow creeps into his irises.

I was right again that Antaras would go with a display of Loss’ power. I expected him to at least fight the other buck first. The former caller is done playing games and went right to murder-mode by having Loss do his dirty work. Nevermind the fact that this particular buck and his doe were only trying to have Eve revive their dead fawn. Now I’m wondering if Antaras is also going to have the doe killed so she doesn’t go telling others what he’s capable of.

At this point in the story, it should be clear that Antaras is the antagonist. He’s not only keeping the gods chained to him via the rings, but he doesn’t care what their absence is doing to all the other deer. As other parents suffer from having stillborn fawns, he gets to revel in the knowledge that his own child is still alive. Not only that, but they will likely be born alive because of Eve being trapped in the doe which I’m assuming was once his mate. (Again, this is only an assumption I’m making.) Helevise was right. Antaras is selfish.

As for Loss, we get to see his true form. A black skeleton of a deer illuminated with blue light. On page 159 we only saw a brief glimpse of this god. His actual form is more or less, the grim reaper version of deer. It fits, given his name. I can only hope when Nero and the rest of the group do get War on their side, that they’re able to handle Antaras before he releases Loss. Death itself is a formidable opponent.

Home | Page(s): 850 | Patreon

Vigr attempts to steady a rattled nova antelope and Kargo finally reaches the others. He informs them of the incoming attack. Fjordor narrows his eyes suspiciously at Kargo while Fraujar stares at the older Rifle in shock. The Whispervale Tribe Jarl then turns his attention to Ronja, as Rogio asks their Viscountess what action should they take. She furrows her brow in anger and replies to fight and not hold back. She then tells Inna to continue up the path to hide the young. Fraujar shouts for his Whispervale members to project their allies. Kargo, Roamer, and Rogio rush down the path to meet the attacking raiders, as Ferah grabs a sword.

There’s not much happening of interest to me as the Nordgarde Tribe moves up the mountain path, while dogs are gearing up to attack them from the rear. You’d have to expect Ronja to order everyone to attack, as their only other options were to run further up the mountain or to surrender, and likely be slaughtered. I’m not sure how much hiding the youngsters could do, as there’s only one path down, and in the worst case scenario the raiders could take their time picking the children off. Again, fighting is the most logical option.

I guess we’ll get to see if Roamer’s training did him any good, and if Kargo is still a killing machine even without the bear spirit. We’ll also see how swords come into play, as Fjordor just happened to visit with them at the right time in the most inorganic bit of writing I’ve read in ages. Honestly, I am surprised that Ferah is the only dog grabbing a sword, as there are at least nine of them available– enough for every dog capable of fighting. I get Roamer being partial to his spear, but Kargo and Rogio sticking to knives? The only explanation is that they’ve opted to go with what they know.

I’m just rolling my eyes at how heavily this scene leans on the rule of cool and feels so forced. We know that no one of importance will likely die, as Kique hates killing off his main characters. Already, I don’t feel a sense of tension or excitement as this fight begins to play out. I’ve been let down too many times in Home by getting my hopes up.

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The Order of the Black Dog | Page(s): | Patreon