Have you listened to/watched her Trope Talks on YouTube? Overly sarcastic productions is their channel if you don’t have it already
She puts a lot of general writing tips in there. I’ve never written a single story, but I love learning about and deconstructing stories, and she is the Best at it
YES I just remembered the cover! She probably hires them to help her track down the gang. Shrike agrees so she can find Alinua, Trunk agrees to keep an eye on Shrike.
I’m glad someone else noticed Shrike’s comment! Ladies and gentlemen, we have another contender for Sixth Party Member: Trusk! Shrike may not just be talking about Shrike’s refusal to use violence to solve problems, she might also mean that Trusk is another uniquely powerful individual!
I’m surprised none of the top comments are squeeing about what is quite likely Theia (June) calling for their attention in the last panel.
Yeah I called it, Shrike just gonna continue till Alinua has to prove just how much of a force of nature she is and just how out matched anyone who forces the hands of her crew is. Like I’m pretty sure anyone on the floof squad could beat their collective asses.
I think you’re missing the point here – Shrike KNOWS that Alinua is a force of nature! She understands that she would get completely eviscerated in a fair fight! But Shrike is the type of person who is very, very, used to cheating. When she says Alinua’s fear makes her weak, she’s not saying that she gets, like, physically easier to beat because she has fears – she’s literally saying that her fear itself is a ‘weakness’ one can potentially exploit in order to control her.
And, I really can’t emphasize this enough, Shrike is technically NOT WRONG about that! If you hold one of her friends hostage, or even just some rando innocent civilian, Alinua will ABSOLUTELY be forced to do whatever it takes to save that person, even if it means going along with Shrike’s demands. And Shrike is logically deducing that based on the fact that Alinua held back with her magic in their city encounter in order to avoid harming civilians. Because the link between those two things is that Alinua’s a nice goddamn person, with actual moral qualms.
Shrike isn’t stupid, she just has a really, really, screwed up sense of priorities. Kind of like the anti-Kendall, if you will.
It is some very classic villainy to think of “Wanting not to indiscriminately murder dozens of people and destroy several houses” as “some fear.”
The absolute certainty that she’s right about All This makes her feel real teenaged, these last couple pages. She knows who all the members of the Floof Squad are, and how they’ll respond to trouble, and how to exploit that for personal gain, AND a justification for why that’s an okay thing to do.
Every part of that sentence is wrong and it’s gonna be such a goddamn dumpster fire.
I disagree Karishi, Watching Shrike proven wrong at every single turn is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait for blow up in Shrikes face! I am sure Trusk will have compassion for her though!
My apologies if I seemed to imply that “goddamn dumpster fire” would be in any way not fun. It’ll be quite enjoyable to watch…from a safe distance, and upwind.
I should have typed ‘politely disagree’ Karishi, and Red is the one telling the story and she can twist and turn it in interesting and unexpected ways.
I think Shrike’s characterization here is really good imo. Shes someone who had to fight for her place in the world and probably always had to give her all to succeed. So someone intentionally holding back when they do have the power to carve themselves a good place in the world is very strange to her. She believes in a might makes right type of philosophy and believes thats how the world works, so from her perspective, someone not following that philosophy is naive and needs to be taught otherwise.
I dont think she expected ali to use her powers to wreck apart the city and kill indiscriminately. Instead i think she wonders why ali didn’t use her powers to protect her friends from the get go, rather then use a more roundabout way to help them (we the audience userstands why; Shrike, an outsider perspective for most part doesnt)
Also if by ‘teenaged’ you mean ‘unable to see the bigger picture’ i think thats a perfectly good flaw to give to a character. Shrike usually only focuses on her own survival and the survival of those closest to her (Trusk), so in her worldview worrying about civilians you don’t know personally is perfectly reasonable. Honestly I’ve met plenty of adults with this mindset so its not at all unrealistic.
Also i agree with Aulde, seeing her getting proved wrong will be a lot of fun
The “teenaged” bit was meant more about how positive she is that she’s got all the information. And that sullen look two pages ago when Trusk offered a perfectly reasonable option that didn’t include trying to (at great risk) get some closure about how her world got flip-flopped by a god-fight. And the smug “You don’t see it?” like she’s gotten one over on her wise adoptive uncle even if it’s very possible that he HAS considered whatever plan she’s concocting and then discarded it as either immoral or foolish.
So…It’s adjacent to the inability to see the bigger picture, but I’m thinking of how she’s not looking for more of the picture because she’s already convinced she’s got it.
Ah I see what you mean. The idea of thinking you figured it all out even if you’re still fornmodt part inexperienced. Yeah I see where you’re coming from
Her motivations are interesting, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be redeemed. And frankly, I don’t mind a complex villain just being a complex villain. Of course, most of her villainy does come from the fact that she was forced to participate in gladiatorial combat and has internalised what was probably a very traumatic episode in her life, so actually unpacking that might cause a paradigm shift. But who knows?
I think she’s very redeemable, in that she hasn’t done anything unforgivable at this point. Not to diminish ‘human’ trafficking as a crime, but that was more of a Zuurith problem. Red hasn’t made Shrike seem particularly evil, so I’d be willing to see her redemption in the future. But I’d be equally willing to see her Fall.
For now, it seems like she’ll be set up as an antagonist to Alinua, specifically, and maybe a foil to Dainix. He went through the Arena too, but he came out of it a much kinder and gentler soul than Shrike. Tess probably wouldn’t say no to another bout either, nor would the rest of the Floof Squad if she comes after one of their own.
To be honest, every bad/evil character in this comic has at least the slimmest, tiniest chance at redemption. Though for Shrike; Kendal, Alinua, Erin and the others need to knock some serious sense into her and she needs to get therapy with Trusk. I don’t see her joining the party permanently though, maybe just helping them out of a tough spot and then continuing on her separate path. That’s my thoughts on it anyways.
TBH I’m not ruling out a redemption arc for the Void Dragon. Being forced to rely on others and experience vulnerability for the first time in his existence might force him to re-examine his place in the universe
Yes I guess I’m seen redemption for the big void entity thing in books and stuff before, but in this case I’m personally thinking there’s a candle’s chance in a rainstorm. Perhaps they can strike some deal to get him to leave this corner of the universe alone, but I can only see VD becoming a neutral character at best. Yes, he might help out our protagonists because he’s rather attached to Erin, but his goals currently involve eating the sun so…
Has Walter been evil? Yes, is he actually evil? I’m not so sure; He is a primordial force of nature and aspect of the world. he isn’t so much an evil as an obstacle or problem like a hurricane. Is he an evil primordial? Probably. At what point does he stop being a part of nature and start being a character?
My prediction, her current views will be heavily challenged by the floof gang and she’ll be forced to reflect on her beliefs. After that I don’t think she’ll join them but she might just have an antivillain/antihero type role as an occasional ally/nuisance.
And I like the idea of a rivally type thing with ali (and a foil to dainix as mentioned above)
In other words I think she’s gonna be an enemy/rival for ali amd later a wild card that has a healthy respect for ali and the others. And maybe be an occasional ally (if they have a common enemy) in the future. But no full out redemption
I feel like there’s potential for a Zuko-type arc with Shrike, with Trusk acting as an Iroh. I feel like it’s a similar thing, with the whole “I want to capture the avatar (of the life primordial)”.
If any one could turn Shrike’s thinking I think it would be Trusk. But Trusk is not a confrontational type of person. But if a friend falls on their face I think Trusk would be type to help them back up.
Redeemable but definitely not Floof Squad material. I feel like it’s most likely that Shrike’s world will be shaken after she causes enough trouble for the Floof Squad, possibly by being shown kindness she knows she doesn’t deserve, that feels very Aurora, doesn’t it? A lot of it depends on whether Shrike is going full Raharu (that godlike power should be mine, because I want it) or whether she has something saner in mind, like leveraging or manipulating Alinua, or capturing her for… sale? I had hoped that we were being gently misled, and that my first read of Shrike’s reaction, “I just found out what *real* protagonists are like, and now Zuurith feels like a backwater,” might still be true. It’s pretty clear at this point that it’s not going to go that way.
It’s also interesting, to me, that Red’s self-commentary keeps belittling Shrike. It seems as if she’s implying that Shrike’s arc got away from her in Arc 1, and that Shrike has been in the limelight more than intended… this is something that happens all the time when you’re writing a story, to be clear. If true, Red would be joking about it because it’s relatable. But this brings up the theory that Shrike and Trusk might continue to hit above their intended narrative weight (forgive me) until it stops being a fun and entertaining part of the story, or that Red has come up with a really awesome redemption or shocking plot-twist arc that will provide the full closure that Shrike has earned by punching above her narrative weight.
Plus, she’s the first powerful earth-and-metal mage we’ve seen, and we’ve only barely seen what she’s capable of.
Can Shrike be redeemed? Yes. In her current state, she is in need of redemption and has not (insofar as the audience has been told) sought it. I don’t know if she will be redeemed in proper or backslide and become a gollum/smeagol figure. I would like to see her become a contact with the floof squad. She doesn’t quite seem like a fit and I doubt she would really join them, but being an ally or someone they count on/draw from seems like it has plenty of potential itself.
Hmm… someone else wants to take the tldrs so I guess I’ll have to do something else. Plus I have no tldr ideas anyways. Guess I’ll just recap the page then.
Page Recap:
Shrike compares Trusk to Alinua, and mistakenly believes that Alinua was afraid of her (which is wrong, she just didn’t want to ruin the pavement and houses and hurt people). Trusk holds firm, and someone says “Excuse me” off-screen.
I think it’s either one of Shrike’s ‘hunters’ or Theia/The Junior Archivist/June. Guess we have to wait until Wednesday to find out.
Oh! Good thought! It would be so Red’s style if one of Shrike’s “boys” butts in and says, “I saw that sky-elf do this and that, which makes me think her motivations are such-and-such,” setting Shrike right about Alinua and heading off a conflict that would actually just get in the way of the story. It feels like too much has been set up through these first four pages for it to be headed off like that, but we don’t know what the main plot is gonna *be.*
Shrike was *seriously* messed up by that arena. She’s decided that anyone not flaunting their strength is wasting it. Shrike can’t seem to understand anything that isn’t applying great amounts of force to get what you want. It’s a little sad, because while she’s objectively in the wrong, I can see how she got that way.
Trusk: You still didn’t answer how you intend to control her.
Shrike: I have a few ideas, promises of power, threatening her friends, wedlock-
Trusk: Looking at your track record with Vienne, I think you can rule out that last one.
Trusk, like Shrike, went through the wringer, emerged a champion (not just did his time, he climbed the ranks), had all the opportunity to exploit the system that tormented him, but unlike Shrike, he walked away from it all. I think she’s actually jealous of Trusk for having the inner strength to not bend to the city and hides her jealousy by framing him as weak.
I heard the family of blood comparison a page or two back, but I’m also getting some Lex Luthor and Superman vibes from Shrike and Alinua. Both have very different world views about power, one ruthlessly pursuing more of it at all cost, the other born with so much they’re afraid they’ll hurt others if they’re not careful. One stuck in an environment that always pits one against another, the other raised humbly and always putting other before themselves. Shrike is so caught up in this worldview she can’t recognise the reason why Alinua held back and almost resents her for doing so; Alinua likewise doesn’t understand Shrike’s philosophy, reacting with bewilderment at why Shrike targeted Falst back in the crime trio mini-arc.
As much as I would enjoy a Shrike humbling courtesy of Alinua, I would also love to see Alinua just explaining her backstory to Shrike, her boys, Trusk, and Theia (and by extension Falst, Dainix and Tess). Her going over all the traumatic moments, deciding to self-exile for a decade to protect others, being the avatar of a primordial god; everyone, even Shrike, just getting ever bigger WTF faces as she lists them off.
I’m in the “disarm via exposition” route. it’d be interesting to see them all sit down and unpack to be honest. and Ali has the ability to facilitate that (roots have strong grip).
“I’m going to go capture the person who could’ve easily dummied me when I threatened her because she should’ve kicked my butt when she had the chance! I’m sure she won’t *actually* kick my butt when I try to make her into a weapon for my personal use.”
I think Trusk needs to go along with Shrike because she needs someone to balance out her “brilliance”. I’m sure she could find a way to try and turn Alinua into her weapon, but I don’t think it would work out long term because the entirety of the Floof squad are powerful in their own rights and would not take kindly to Alinua getting kidnapped/coerced.
I’m really happy Shrike is coming back as a villain. VD and the Collector both had to use some clever moves to execute their plans, but they’re both working on an insane power scale, so I’m excited to see a villain who would definitely lose in a fair fight against any member of the Floof Squad have to play dirty to win
TL:DR: “[insert heroic and positive attribute here] is a weakness this character has, I’m going to exploit it cause screw morality!” -Shrike, probably.
‘scuse me. I was the previous TL;DR guy before arc 2 came out and I forgot. I’d like to get back to doing that if you don’t mind since it’s the one thing I could claim I did here and it pumped up my fragile ego ever so slightly.
And yeah, Mathangi ten Meti would probably be supremely disappointed in Shrike as a swordswoman. It’s fine, though, since the feeling would almost certainly be mutual. Our favorite bounty hunter would much prefer to jump at Incubus’ path to power – so much more practical than Maya’s mystical mumbo-jumbo nonsense!
In her mind, the strong who choose not to eat
Are privileged in squandering god-given meat
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: hi yea I heard you misapplying darwinism and I just had to step in
Image source: weak
As a biology major, i felt that alt text
Tumblr text: something something facts and logic
Twitter text: what a good friend
For someone so strong
How could you waste that power?
Shrike can’t understand.
You’re back 😀
omggg hello haiku is backkk
Ohoho who is that (probably June)
By the way do you have tips on starting my own webcomic? I want to do one but I don’t know how or where…
Have you listened to/watched her Trope Talks on YouTube? Overly sarcastic productions is their channel if you don’t have it already
She puts a lot of general writing tips in there. I’ve never written a single story, but I love learning about and deconstructing stories, and she is the Best at it
Thanks <3
Talks about it on her tumblr too (comicaurora.tumblr.com)
YES I just remembered the cover! She probably hires them to help her track down the gang. Shrike agrees so she can find Alinua, Trunk agrees to keep an eye on Shrike.
Lmao okay i didnt even notice! “TrUNk”. I meant Trusk but thanks autocorrect 😂
Sympathies Blocked. I hate when technology betrays my expectations of it!
Thestarfishface has a series of videos and a book on how to make web comics, cheak her out!
I really hope Trusk joins the crew
I’m glad someone else noticed Shrike’s comment! Ladies and gentlemen, we have another contender for Sixth Party Member: Trusk! Shrike may not just be talking about Shrike’s refusal to use violence to solve problems, she might also mean that Trusk is another uniquely powerful individual!
I’m surprised none of the top comments are squeeing about what is quite likely Theia (June) calling for their attention in the last panel.
Yes, I meant “seventh.” No, I’m not telling which one I forgot about all five times I counted and said, “wait, aren’t there six of them?”
Yeah I called it, Shrike just gonna continue till Alinua has to prove just how much of a force of nature she is and just how out matched anyone who forces the hands of her crew is. Like I’m pretty sure anyone on the floof squad could beat their collective asses.
We’ve never seen Trusk in a fight, so he might be stronger than he looks. But yeah, Shrike stands no chance against any of them.
I think you’re missing the point here – Shrike KNOWS that Alinua is a force of nature! She understands that she would get completely eviscerated in a fair fight! But Shrike is the type of person who is very, very, used to cheating. When she says Alinua’s fear makes her weak, she’s not saying that she gets, like, physically easier to beat because she has fears – she’s literally saying that her fear itself is a ‘weakness’ one can potentially exploit in order to control her.
And, I really can’t emphasize this enough, Shrike is technically NOT WRONG about that! If you hold one of her friends hostage, or even just some rando innocent civilian, Alinua will ABSOLUTELY be forced to do whatever it takes to save that person, even if it means going along with Shrike’s demands. And Shrike is logically deducing that based on the fact that Alinua held back with her magic in their city encounter in order to avoid harming civilians. Because the link between those two things is that Alinua’s a nice goddamn person, with actual moral qualms.
Shrike isn’t stupid, she just has a really, really, screwed up sense of priorities. Kind of like the anti-Kendall, if you will.
Ooou, nice foil to Kendal’s flaws. A lot of plot can be made to twist around that dynamic!
It is some very classic villainy to think of “Wanting not to indiscriminately murder dozens of people and destroy several houses” as “some fear.”
The absolute certainty that she’s right about All This makes her feel real teenaged, these last couple pages. She knows who all the members of the Floof Squad are, and how they’ll respond to trouble, and how to exploit that for personal gain, AND a justification for why that’s an okay thing to do.
Every part of that sentence is wrong and it’s gonna be such a goddamn dumpster fire.
I disagree Karishi, Watching Shrike proven wrong at every single turn is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait for blow up in Shrikes face! I am sure Trusk will have compassion for her though!
My apologies if I seemed to imply that “goddamn dumpster fire” would be in any way not fun. It’ll be quite enjoyable to watch…from a safe distance, and upwind.
I should have typed ‘politely disagree’ Karishi, and Red is the one telling the story and she can twist and turn it in interesting and unexpected ways.
I think Shrike’s characterization here is really good imo. Shes someone who had to fight for her place in the world and probably always had to give her all to succeed. So someone intentionally holding back when they do have the power to carve themselves a good place in the world is very strange to her. She believes in a might makes right type of philosophy and believes thats how the world works, so from her perspective, someone not following that philosophy is naive and needs to be taught otherwise.
I dont think she expected ali to use her powers to wreck apart the city and kill indiscriminately. Instead i think she wonders why ali didn’t use her powers to protect her friends from the get go, rather then use a more roundabout way to help them (we the audience userstands why; Shrike, an outsider perspective for most part doesnt)
Also if by ‘teenaged’ you mean ‘unable to see the bigger picture’ i think thats a perfectly good flaw to give to a character. Shrike usually only focuses on her own survival and the survival of those closest to her (Trusk), so in her worldview worrying about civilians you don’t know personally is perfectly reasonable. Honestly I’ve met plenty of adults with this mindset so its not at all unrealistic.
Also i agree with Aulde, seeing her getting proved wrong will be a lot of fun
The “teenaged” bit was meant more about how positive she is that she’s got all the information. And that sullen look two pages ago when Trusk offered a perfectly reasonable option that didn’t include trying to (at great risk) get some closure about how her world got flip-flopped by a god-fight. And the smug “You don’t see it?” like she’s gotten one over on her wise adoptive uncle even if it’s very possible that he HAS considered whatever plan she’s concocting and then discarded it as either immoral or foolish.
So…It’s adjacent to the inability to see the bigger picture, but I’m thinking of how she’s not looking for more of the picture because she’s already convinced she’s got it.
Ah I see what you mean. The idea of thinking you figured it all out even if you’re still fornmodt part inexperienced. Yeah I see where you’re coming from
Shrike entering her ‘getting beaten up by Ali and maybe Kendal’ arc
And maybe everyone else in the gang.
I hate to say it but the writing is looking a little inconsistent.
At least she’s going to teach people how to be real villains!
In what way?
Anonymous Aurora Question #36: Is Shrike redeemable/will she be redeemed? I kind of want to see her on the heroes side to be honest.
Her motivations are interesting, but that doesn’t mean she’ll be redeemed. And frankly, I don’t mind a complex villain just being a complex villain. Of course, most of her villainy does come from the fact that she was forced to participate in gladiatorial combat and has internalised what was probably a very traumatic episode in her life, so actually unpacking that might cause a paradigm shift. But who knows?
I think she’s very redeemable, in that she hasn’t done anything unforgivable at this point. Not to diminish ‘human’ trafficking as a crime, but that was more of a Zuurith problem. Red hasn’t made Shrike seem particularly evil, so I’d be willing to see her redemption in the future. But I’d be equally willing to see her Fall.
For now, it seems like she’ll be set up as an antagonist to Alinua, specifically, and maybe a foil to Dainix. He went through the Arena too, but he came out of it a much kinder and gentler soul than Shrike. Tess probably wouldn’t say no to another bout either, nor would the rest of the Floof Squad if she comes after one of their own.
To be honest, every bad/evil character in this comic has at least the slimmest, tiniest chance at redemption. Though for Shrike; Kendal, Alinua, Erin and the others need to knock some serious sense into her and she needs to get therapy with Trusk. I don’t see her joining the party permanently though, maybe just helping them out of a tough spot and then continuing on her separate path. That’s my thoughts on it anyways.
Correction: every bad/evil character except Void Dragon. Forgot about him for a moment.
TBH I’m not ruling out a redemption arc for the Void Dragon. Being forced to rely on others and experience vulnerability for the first time in his existence might force him to re-examine his place in the universe
Yes I guess I’m seen redemption for the big void entity thing in books and stuff before, but in this case I’m personally thinking there’s a candle’s chance in a rainstorm. Perhaps they can strike some deal to get him to leave this corner of the universe alone, but I can only see VD becoming a neutral character at best. Yes, he might help out our protagonists because he’s rather attached to Erin, but his goals currently involve eating the sun so…
Has Walter been evil? Yes, is he actually evil? I’m not so sure; He is a primordial force of nature and aspect of the world. he isn’t so much an evil as an obstacle or problem like a hurricane. Is he an evil primordial? Probably. At what point does he stop being a part of nature and start being a character?
My prediction, her current views will be heavily challenged by the floof gang and she’ll be forced to reflect on her beliefs. After that I don’t think she’ll join them but she might just have an antivillain/antihero type role as an occasional ally/nuisance.
And I like the idea of a rivally type thing with ali (and a foil to dainix as mentioned above)
In other words I think she’s gonna be an enemy/rival for ali amd later a wild card that has a healthy respect for ali and the others. And maybe be an occasional ally (if they have a common enemy) in the future. But no full out redemption
I feel like there’s potential for a Zuko-type arc with Shrike, with Trusk acting as an Iroh. I feel like it’s a similar thing, with the whole “I want to capture the avatar (of the life primordial)”.
If any one could turn Shrike’s thinking I think it would be Trusk. But Trusk is not a confrontational type of person. But if a friend falls on their face I think Trusk would be type to help them back up.
Redeemable but definitely not Floof Squad material. I feel like it’s most likely that Shrike’s world will be shaken after she causes enough trouble for the Floof Squad, possibly by being shown kindness she knows she doesn’t deserve, that feels very Aurora, doesn’t it? A lot of it depends on whether Shrike is going full Raharu (that godlike power should be mine, because I want it) or whether she has something saner in mind, like leveraging or manipulating Alinua, or capturing her for… sale? I had hoped that we were being gently misled, and that my first read of Shrike’s reaction, “I just found out what *real* protagonists are like, and now Zuurith feels like a backwater,” might still be true. It’s pretty clear at this point that it’s not going to go that way.
It’s also interesting, to me, that Red’s self-commentary keeps belittling Shrike. It seems as if she’s implying that Shrike’s arc got away from her in Arc 1, and that Shrike has been in the limelight more than intended… this is something that happens all the time when you’re writing a story, to be clear. If true, Red would be joking about it because it’s relatable. But this brings up the theory that Shrike and Trusk might continue to hit above their intended narrative weight (forgive me) until it stops being a fun and entertaining part of the story, or that Red has come up with a really awesome redemption or shocking plot-twist arc that will provide the full closure that Shrike has earned by punching above her narrative weight.
Plus, she’s the first powerful earth-and-metal mage we’ve seen, and we’ve only barely seen what she’s capable of.
Can Shrike be redeemed? Yes. In her current state, she is in need of redemption and has not (insofar as the audience has been told) sought it. I don’t know if she will be redeemed in proper or backslide and become a gollum/smeagol figure. I would like to see her become a contact with the floof squad. She doesn’t quite seem like a fit and I doubt she would really join them, but being an ally or someone they count on/draw from seems like it has plenty of potential itself.
Hmm… someone else wants to take the tldrs so I guess I’ll have to do something else. Plus I have no tldr ideas anyways. Guess I’ll just recap the page then.
Page Recap:
Shrike compares Trusk to Alinua, and mistakenly believes that Alinua was afraid of her (which is wrong, she just didn’t want to ruin the pavement and houses and hurt people). Trusk holds firm, and someone says “Excuse me” off-screen.
I think it’s either one of Shrike’s ‘hunters’ or Theia/The Junior Archivist/June. Guess we have to wait until Wednesday to find out.
Oh! Good thought! It would be so Red’s style if one of Shrike’s “boys” butts in and says, “I saw that sky-elf do this and that, which makes me think her motivations are such-and-such,” setting Shrike right about Alinua and heading off a conflict that would actually just get in the way of the story. It feels like too much has been set up through these first four pages for it to be headed off like that, but we don’t know what the main plot is gonna *be.*
I’ll take you up on the offer of TL:DRs: been looking for a opportunity to carve out a spot in the comments for myself for a while
By someone else I mean someone (Bluefire) has contacted me when I did the tldr on the last page. Seems like they replied to your comment as well.
Shrike was *seriously* messed up by that arena. She’s decided that anyone not flaunting their strength is wasting it. Shrike can’t seem to understand anything that isn’t applying great amounts of force to get what you want. It’s a little sad, because while she’s objectively in the wrong, I can see how she got that way.
HEY SHE’S A VERY NICE LADY AND MAYBE SHE HAS VERY GOOD, WORLD DESTROYING REASONS FOR NOT GOING APE SHIT!
Aim for the stars! If she misses, she’ll… run afoul of the Void (dragon)? I’m sure that’s fine.!
somebody needs to stop her monologuing before she bursts into flame and melts, clearly she does not have the restraint to stop herself
Placing my guess now, I think the offscreen voice is Theia/Junior Archivist
I wouldn’t have guessed shrile has self esteem issues. Her character makes a fair bit more sense now.
Trusk: You still didn’t answer how you intend to control her.
Shrike: I have a few ideas, promises of power, threatening her friends, wedlock-
Trusk: Looking at your track record with Vienne, I think you can rule out that last one.
Trusk, like Shrike, went through the wringer, emerged a champion (not just did his time, he climbed the ranks), had all the opportunity to exploit the system that tormented him, but unlike Shrike, he walked away from it all. I think she’s actually jealous of Trusk for having the inner strength to not bend to the city and hides her jealousy by framing him as weak.
I heard the family of blood comparison a page or two back, but I’m also getting some Lex Luthor and Superman vibes from Shrike and Alinua. Both have very different world views about power, one ruthlessly pursuing more of it at all cost, the other born with so much they’re afraid they’ll hurt others if they’re not careful. One stuck in an environment that always pits one against another, the other raised humbly and always putting other before themselves. Shrike is so caught up in this worldview she can’t recognise the reason why Alinua held back and almost resents her for doing so; Alinua likewise doesn’t understand Shrike’s philosophy, reacting with bewilderment at why Shrike targeted Falst back in the crime trio mini-arc.
As much as I would enjoy a Shrike humbling courtesy of Alinua, I would also love to see Alinua just explaining her backstory to Shrike, her boys, Trusk, and Theia (and by extension Falst, Dainix and Tess). Her going over all the traumatic moments, deciding to self-exile for a decade to protect others, being the avatar of a primordial god; everyone, even Shrike, just getting ever bigger WTF faces as she lists them off.
I’m in the “disarm via exposition” route. it’d be interesting to see them all sit down and unpack to be honest. and Ali has the ability to facilitate that (roots have strong grip).
Just because one has the power to level every mountain, doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to level every mountain.
I think Shrike just wants to have the power to level a mountain
“I’m going to go capture the person who could’ve easily dummied me when I threatened her because she should’ve kicked my butt when she had the chance! I’m sure she won’t *actually* kick my butt when I try to make her into a weapon for my personal use.”
I think Trusk needs to go along with Shrike because she needs someone to balance out her “brilliance”. I’m sure she could find a way to try and turn Alinua into her weapon, but I don’t think it would work out long term because the entirety of the Floof squad are powerful in their own rights and would not take kindly to Alinua getting kidnapped/coerced.
Really love the Zuko-Iroh relationship going on here
Shrike plays the No Mercy route in Undertale confirmed /j
I’m really happy Shrike is coming back as a villain. VD and the Collector both had to use some clever moves to execute their plans, but they’re both working on an insane power scale, so I’m excited to see a villain who would definitely lose in a fair fight against any member of the Floof Squad have to play dirty to win
TL:DR: “[insert heroic and positive attribute here] is a weakness this character has, I’m going to exploit it cause screw morality!” -Shrike, probably.
Oh and I forgot that someone’s trying to contact Shrike about her ego’s extended warranty
‘scuse me. I was the previous TL;DR guy before arc 2 came out and I forgot. I’d like to get back to doing that if you don’t mind since it’s the one thing I could claim I did here and it pumped up my fragile ego ever so slightly.
TL;DR: “I judge the heroes for having morals because it really drives home how villainous I am!”
Don’t forget “formative trauma” and “reformative trauma.”
Can you please stop monologuing and help us rebuild our city
Shrike seems to me like the kind of person a certain noodle vendor would refer to as “a very poor swordsman”. Swordsperson? Anyways.
She will never become Royalty.
Oh hey, a wild KBSD fan! Well met, Preem Logan.
And yeah, Mathangi ten Meti would probably be supremely disappointed in Shrike as a swordswoman. It’s fine, though, since the feeling would almost certainly be mutual. Our favorite bounty hunter would much prefer to jump at Incubus’ path to power – so much more practical than Maya’s mystical mumbo-jumbo nonsense!
Dang, so this is what it feels like to be fully caught up. Can’t wait to see how this story unfolds in real time now (I will die from withdrawal)
I love how bright these past few pages have been. I know we’re setting up conflict right now, but it still gives this arc a light and optimistic vibe.
wow, she is. not right about anything
Blast, I caught up. Though I guess the overall timing is good. But GOODNESS am I LOVING this comic!!
If this “Excuse me” is the Collector this goes dark REAL fast.
someone didn’t hear about with great power comes great responsibility