Do not be sorry about liking a bad guy. Be proud that you have good taste! It’s not like appreciating them as a character is the same as thinking they’re morally correct! :3
*the page finishes loading* Finally! Well, here I go
Page Recap:
As most people expected, it was Theia. She joins up with Shrike and Trusk because they are looking for the same group of people after all. Shrike mentions teaching Theia how to fight. (I’m wondering if/how the Light Dragon magic she used to open a window can be used for combat and how exactly it works. She’s probably going to keep it a secret though). Things are a bit tense between Shrike and Theia as Shrike quickly lays down some rules and boundaries, before quickly declaring that it’s going to be fun. We’ll see about that.
Shrike, you were monologuing out loud in a street; it’d be difficult not to eavesdrop.
… Well, that was easy. Shrike didn’t ask for Theia’s reasoning behind wanting to join; every chance Shrike sees that as her own business that she won’t pry into. It is weird how quickly Shrike accepted though; maybe she wants more people now they no longer have the home advantage, or maybe @Dusty is right and she does have a type. I wonder if she would have been so quick to accept if she knew Theia was a Paladin; I wouldn’t think of her hunters and the Paladins as close friends.
Alinua’s becoming a bit of a celebrity/cult hero, isn’t she? All of Zuurith is aware of her and what she did, that news will start spreading as trade resumes, and it might even intersect with talk of her previous show in Windcrest. This could be dangerous. I doubt Shrike is the only one in the world ambitious and confident enough to try and take control of Alinua; the gang might find themselves fending off against multiple groups who want Alinua for their own purposes/cities/etc.
One meta component of all this I can’t help but notice is the five page gap between this interlude and the next chapter. The “How will Theia join Shrike?” point has been solved and her boys (Theia included) are on their way, so that leaves five pages with no obvious content we can predict. Will we cut to that mystery figure in the interlude cover? A conversation between Theia and her Lady (I notice her eye is glowing slightly white in panel 8)? Maybe the Collector stirs on the surface again after her interrogation of Vash?
The mystery figure looks like the ladys champion and there are for glowing eyes like those of the dragon the lady sent to warn the paladins. Those two joining the group should warrant enough conversation for those five pages
My prediction is we cut to whatever the Paladin’s ‘Champion’ is doing. We haven’t heard from them in a while, makes sense for them, to show up now. But it could be something else entirely.
Honestly, I think the main reason Shrike is ok with Theia joining up is because she likes her audacity and drive. The shift in expressions from panels 4 to 5 really screams to me, “Really?…damn, you’re got STONES, kid.” Also, there’s the fact that she IMMEDIATELY offered to train Theia, completely unsolicited. I think Shrike, as a power-hungry warrior gal who clawed her way up to high status starting from rock bottom, really likes to cultivate a “go-getter” attitude in people so they reflect herself more.
I also agree that her affiliation with the Paladins could turn out to be problematic when it’s eventually revealed, though.
ah, threatening each other with bodily harm! definitely the best way to form a miniboss squad! definitely! definitely.
(but in all seriousness, having such a divided squad will make for a lot of interesting interactions, plus a lot of butting heads as their conflicting values collide…)
“Here outside of Zuurith
Let’s play a game
I’ll show you how it’s done
Here outside of Zuurith
Follow my orders
This’ll be so much fun
And then she smiled, that’s what I’m after
A smile in her eyes, the sound of her laughter.”
Hey who here watched the rule of 3 trope talk and noticed that the green character in the far left (when there is an obvious picture of the floof squad) looks like the mystery person in the chapter cover?
impossible until she hears about their goal, encounters the champion en route, or gets more direct contact from the lady as she (the lady) gains more info on the situation.
Is it really impossible? Once she discovers that Erin is trying to get rid of Voidy, their interests will be aligned. I guess I do see her becoming more of a secondary ally to the floof squad than a full-time member, but still.
Shrike x Theia teamup! I love this. Though my Erin x Theia ship idea is slowly dying, I still love this. (No offense to the people who want this comic to have no romance. I personally do like some romance if it doesn’t impede the main plot, but I get that other people don’t see it that way.) However: Anonymous Aurora Question #36: If you were on Shrikes team and had to locate Ali using an element of your choosing, which one would it be and how would you do it?
Lightning magic because I’d like to go fast enough. I know it isn’t the best answer and is sub optimal but it is what I would choose every time. Or soul magic for the wings.
TL:DR: this is how DnD parties form, a rogue, a paladen and uuuuuhhhhh, a barbarian? Walk into a ruined city, could also be the start of a joke of some sort
I’d like to apologize to Bluefire, I didn’t realize they wanted to continue these TL:DRs until a reread my first one, and didn’t notice the one on this page they did, my apologies, I’ll find something else to contribute to the community with. Don’t know what though
I like Theia’s (Junior Archivist and now promoted to Field Researcher?) new hair color and style. She definitely does not want others connecting her to her past self. She and Shrike look like fun sparing partners. I would dearly love to hear (or read) Theia and Trusk put their cards on the table for each other. But Red is not beholden to her fans but only her Creative Muse. But I believe more than a few fans would be amused if her Muse to suggest something to reveal and thwart that expectation. But Red chooses what she wants to write and draw.
When I said Theia was a prime candidate to join the Floof Squad, I didn’t realize the possibility that an *anti*-Floof Squad would assemble, made up entirely of people I wanted to see join our heroes.
I just LOVE cheerful a-hole villains. It all just immediately throws people off balance on how you’re supposed to handle them.
Do you try to match their smiling side, being polite and gregarious? Or do you match their boundary pushing and veiled threats?
I’m sorry, but Shrike is the least sympathetic, most hateful of any antagonist thus uncovered. Heck – Tynan is more sympathetic – even ZUURITH has admirable features to their personality. Shrike? Worse than gravel-contaminated used bubblegum stuck to the bottom of a shoe!!
Mysterious Stranger #1 seems to have mildly glowing eyes in the bottom left panel… I wonder if it’s just the highlight, or if this person isn’t who they claim to be.
Well, I’ve been without internet for almost a week, and up til then waiting for each new panel with bated breath, now all I can say is, “Well, that was simple.”
Which isn’t a bad thing. Red is excellent at knowing when extra conflict would become annoying instead of compelling, and ending that nonsense. Very refreshing compared to what’s on television these days!
AW GEEZ OH NO!!! THEYRE TEAMING UP??? Dude we’re a tiiiiiny bit screwed here. Can you believe the side characters became more plot relevant??? ASTONISHING!!
I’m sorry people I know shrike is a bad guy but OH MY she’s awesome! (I have a tendency to like bad guys)
I 100% agree, Shrike is definitely one of my favorite characters. She’s just so fun
She’s a legend, she’s an icon, and she IS the moment. Now come on now!
Is this what is kids are calling “girlboss”
Do not be sorry about liking a bad guy. Be proud that you have good taste! It’s not like appreciating them as a character is the same as thinking they’re morally correct! :3
What about Trusk? He’s great too!
I like Shrike and cannot wait for her to get her comeuppance
I like her but also cannot wait for her to get her comeuppance
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: the minor characters are unionizing
Image source: fun
Tumblr text: This can only go well
Thank you GenuisIdiot (&StickMerchant) for sharing Tumblr text.
Twitter text: and my axe
Man, Shrike sure is assembling the Quirky Miniboss Squad right now. If unintentionally.
Theia approaches, and gets a position
Shrike has all hopes they’ll have fun on the mission
Their goals may differ
But their target is the same
Time for a team up!
Red taking as long as possible until showing us if Theia has a new haircut or not 🙁 I have to know!
Here. https://comicaurora.tumblr.com/post/736923241141174272/this-interstitial-is-giving-me-the-opportunity-to
Thanks! I’m actually so dumb though, I had already seen that and just forgotten it somehow
People tell me when I forget words or names its due to my old age. I hope nobody says that to you!
Shrike out here assembling the “could probably just talk it out with the heroes but probably won’t” squad.
The Anti-Floof squad assembles!
Team Antag vs Team Protag
Between Vienne and Theia, Shrike definitely has a type, doesn’t she?
this made me laugh more than it should have
Panel nine made me laugh out loud all by its lovely self.
Her type is “self-righteous paragon who hates me, but is just barely willing to compromise their morals in order to wring some use out of me.”
Also, dark, curly-haired, and with big, beautiful, brown eyes. But we don’t talk about that.
Okay I know she’s an antagonist but I love just how HAPPY Shrike looks in the last panel
This is going to be a trainwreck between several locomotives…
Shrike is really becoming the “I can fix her” kind of antagonist, huh?
it has yet to be seen, but she is heading into that direction, especially because what would need “fixing” seems to mostly be ego based.
*shakes device vigorously as the page slowly reveals itself pixel by pixel*
*the page finishes loading* Finally! Well, here I go
Page Recap:
As most people expected, it was Theia. She joins up with Shrike and Trusk because they are looking for the same group of people after all. Shrike mentions teaching Theia how to fight. (I’m wondering if/how the Light Dragon magic she used to open a window can be used for combat and how exactly it works. She’s probably going to keep it a secret though). Things are a bit tense between Shrike and Theia as Shrike quickly lays down some rules and boundaries, before quickly declaring that it’s going to be fun. We’ll see about that.
Now begins the wait for Friday…
Shrike, you were monologuing out loud in a street; it’d be difficult not to eavesdrop.
… Well, that was easy. Shrike didn’t ask for Theia’s reasoning behind wanting to join; every chance Shrike sees that as her own business that she won’t pry into. It is weird how quickly Shrike accepted though; maybe she wants more people now they no longer have the home advantage, or maybe @Dusty is right and she does have a type. I wonder if she would have been so quick to accept if she knew Theia was a Paladin; I wouldn’t think of her hunters and the Paladins as close friends.
Alinua’s becoming a bit of a celebrity/cult hero, isn’t she? All of Zuurith is aware of her and what she did, that news will start spreading as trade resumes, and it might even intersect with talk of her previous show in Windcrest. This could be dangerous. I doubt Shrike is the only one in the world ambitious and confident enough to try and take control of Alinua; the gang might find themselves fending off against multiple groups who want Alinua for their own purposes/cities/etc.
One meta component of all this I can’t help but notice is the five page gap between this interlude and the next chapter. The “How will Theia join Shrike?” point has been solved and her boys (Theia included) are on their way, so that leaves five pages with no obvious content we can predict. Will we cut to that mystery figure in the interlude cover? A conversation between Theia and her Lady (I notice her eye is glowing slightly white in panel 8)? Maybe the Collector stirs on the surface again after her interrogation of Vash?
Alt funny initial line:
Theia: You aren’t going to ask my name?
Shrike: No one else in this comic seemed to bother, so why should I?
The mystery figure looks like the ladys champion and there are for glowing eyes like those of the dragon the lady sent to warn the paladins. Those two joining the group should warrant enough conversation for those five pages
My prediction is we cut to whatever the Paladin’s ‘Champion’ is doing. We haven’t heard from them in a while, makes sense for them, to show up now. But it could be something else entirely.
How can you tell how many pages are in a chapter?
The Archive says when Chapter 1 starts, so just a little math to figure it out
Aha, didn’t see that that had updated. Thanks!
Honestly, I think the main reason Shrike is ok with Theia joining up is because she likes her audacity and drive. The shift in expressions from panels 4 to 5 really screams to me, “Really?…damn, you’re got STONES, kid.” Also, there’s the fact that she IMMEDIATELY offered to train Theia, completely unsolicited. I think Shrike, as a power-hungry warrior gal who clawed her way up to high status starting from rock bottom, really likes to cultivate a “go-getter” attitude in people so they reflect herself more.
I also agree that her affiliation with the Paladins could turn out to be problematic when it’s eventually revealed, though.
ah, threatening each other with bodily harm! definitely the best way to form a miniboss squad! definitely! definitely.
(but in all seriousness, having such a divided squad will make for a lot of interesting interactions, plus a lot of butting heads as their conflicting values collide…)
I wish real world employers were like Shrike. Most of them are more:
“This is a minimum-wage entry-level job, so we’d like you to have at least 10 years of experience and 17 character references. Fuck you.”
Shrike really went:
“You have no training, I don’t know your name, and you just eavesdropped on me and my friend. Welcome aboard!”
I see that you found finding a job was a ugly experience. My sympathies!
I don’t care if she’s a villain and a slave-catcher, we STAN good bosses like Shrike!
I love, when an antagonist is serious when they need to, but cheers up, when they don’t.
“Here outside of Zuurith
Let’s play a game
I’ll show you how it’s done
Here outside of Zuurith
Follow my orders
This’ll be so much fun
And then she smiled, that’s what I’m after
A smile in her eyes, the sound of her laughter.”
Drift Away, Steven Universe
Noooo Theia, don’t join the antagonists!
Oh I am VERY excited to see these 3 teaming up! This is gonna get SO messy!
I can fix her
yesss theia you go on that journey
TL;DR: Minor antagonist squad, unite! Together we will give hell to the “heroes”!
NOO THEIA DONT JOIN THE ANTAGONISTS NONONO
Shrike, giving a master class in setting boundaries while creating new friends.
Trusk looks so sad in that last panel. Sad and worried.
Hey who here watched the rule of 3 trope talk and noticed that the green character in the far left (when there is an obvious picture of the floof squad) looks like the mystery person in the chapter cover?
I…may……be in love with shrike
There once was a Light Dragon pal
Who went right up to the gal
Who wants to get Ali
And joined in her rally
Without knowing her rationale.
Oh I Love this. What a face Shrike makes on panel five!
I THINK JUNE/THEIA USED A JEDI MIND TRICK ON SHRIKE!!!
Look at her eye in the last panel, it’s glowing!
I don’t think that’s a Jedi mind-trick, I think that’s Theia trying to be intimidating and revealing more about herself than she should have…
impossible until she hears about their goal, encounters the champion en route, or gets more direct contact from the lady as she (the lady) gains more info on the situation.
wrong replay my bad.
No worries, it happens
Nooooooo, we just learned June/Theia’s real nammmmmmeee, don’t get involved with Strike now! I want Theia to join the floof squaaaaaaaad.
She’s literally going on a hunt to kill Erin, so her joining the Floof Squad is pretty much impossible.
Is it really impossible? Once she discovers that Erin is trying to get rid of Voidy, their interests will be aligned. I guess I do see her becoming more of a secondary ally to the floof squad than a full-time member, but still.
Shrike x Theia teamup! I love this. Though my Erin x Theia ship idea is slowly dying, I still love this. (No offense to the people who want this comic to have no romance. I personally do like some romance if it doesn’t impede the main plot, but I get that other people don’t see it that way.) However: Anonymous Aurora Question #36: If you were on Shrikes team and had to locate Ali using an element of your choosing, which one would it be and how would you do it?
The one that makes message birds!
Wind Magic is objectively the right answer, yes. Although I wonder if you need to know a person’s name to find them?
Lightning magic because I’d like to go fast enough. I know it isn’t the best answer and is sub optimal but it is what I would choose every time. Or soul magic for the wings.
My Spider-Senses are raising legions of flags so red, you could mistake them for blood.
TL:DR: this is how DnD parties form, a rogue, a paladen and uuuuuhhhhh, a barbarian? Walk into a ruined city, could also be the start of a joke of some sort
I’d like to apologize to Bluefire, I didn’t realize they wanted to continue these TL:DRs until a reread my first one, and didn’t notice the one on this page they did, my apologies, I’ll find something else to contribute to the community with. Don’t know what though
I imagine Theia more as a Circle Of Stars-type Druid, or perhaps a warlock of some sort. By her own admission, she can’t really fight.
I hear shrikes fist text bubble in a new yorker accent everytime I read it
So do I! 😂
I hear more Boston (“sweethaht”)
I like Theia’s (Junior Archivist and now promoted to Field Researcher?) new hair color and style. She definitely does not want others connecting her to her past self. She and Shrike look like fun sparing partners. I would dearly love to hear (or read) Theia and Trusk put their cards on the table for each other. But Red is not beholden to her fans but only her Creative Muse. But I believe more than a few fans would be amused if her Muse to suggest something to reveal and thwart that expectation. But Red chooses what she wants to write and draw.
Trusk looks so doubtful about the “fun” part, ha.
Introducing! Team: AntiFloof.
When I said Theia was a prime candidate to join the Floof Squad, I didn’t realize the possibility that an *anti*-Floof Squad would assemble, made up entirely of people I wanted to see join our heroes.
oh heck yeah we’re getting a villain team
NOOO LIBRARY LADY I BELIEVED IN YOU TT o TT
I love Shrike
I just LOVE cheerful a-hole villains. It all just immediately throws people off balance on how you’re supposed to handle them.
Do you try to match their smiling side, being polite and gregarious? Or do you match their boundary pushing and veiled threats?
Just makes for some of the best interactions
I’m sorry, but Shrike is the least sympathetic, most hateful of any antagonist thus uncovered. Heck – Tynan is more sympathetic – even ZUURITH has admirable features to their personality. Shrike? Worse than gravel-contaminated used bubblegum stuck to the bottom of a shoe!!
…But go ahead & ask me how I REALLY feel… ^_^
Mysterious Stranger #1 seems to have mildly glowing eyes in the bottom left panel… I wonder if it’s just the highlight, or if this person isn’t who they claim to be.
This is now officially an anti-party, love it
Well, I’ve been without internet for almost a week, and up til then waiting for each new panel with bated breath, now all I can say is, “Well, that was simple.”
Which isn’t a bad thing. Red is excellent at knowing when extra conflict would become annoying instead of compelling, and ending that nonsense. Very refreshing compared to what’s on television these days!
AW GEEZ OH NO!!! THEYRE TEAMING UP??? Dude we’re a tiiiiiny bit screwed here. Can you believe the side characters became more plot relevant??? ASTONISHING!!
I am having a sneaking suspicion that Doctor Jolon is going to somehow come back and join the posse.
Fun fact: I randomized the page number when I started reading and this is the page I got too, now after a few days of binging it I’m back.
every new player introduction ever