#Shrike Spoilers

[bloodhoundini]

SPOILERS FOR MW EPISODE 4

OHMYGOD LITERALLY MY FAVORITE EPISODE ITS SO GOOD AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[ravewing]

my soul slides away

but "don't look back in anger," i heard you say

[shrikeofficial]

I would literally do anything for them

[spockvarietyhour]

Star Trek The Next Generation "Contagion" & Star Trek Picard "No Win Scenario" requested by @frontier001

[boiledegghole]

so called "free thinkers" when euphrasie pulls up with the "something's failing, ROTTING"

[aangussca]

Monkey Wrench Episode 4 Fanart: Caught in Their Game (December 2024)

I absolutely LOVED the new Monkey Wrench episode! :D

HOLY COW, @zeurelart, @neatotito and the rest of the @monkey-wrench-series team did a phenomenal job this time around (please give them some love bc they absolutely deserve it)!

So it only made sense for me to finish this drawing (the idea for which had been mulling in my mind through the months MW episode 4 was being teased), which I enjoyed creating.

(Yes, I was partially inspired by Neoni's song 'Jump Rope' bc both share the theme of games (literally and symbolically). If you have already watched MW Episode 4, feel free to give it a listen - I'm curious to hear your thoughts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhDON376rd4)

Below are the close-ups, as well as me rambling about the reasoning behind the symbolism here:

(SPOILER WARNING FOR MW EPISODE 4 FROM THIS POINT ON!)

Since I realised MW Episode 4 centred around the theme of games (literal and metaphorical), I couldn't not include references to games to associate with the following characters.

Shrike, Beebs, Agent K, and Kara = Arcade games

Campion Ajax = Chess

Tyneen = Video/computer games

Jawbone = Darts

Disco Head = Casino card games

Disco Head is the most self-explanatory (because ✨casino✨ - those cards were SO fun to render btw):

Episode 4 confirms that DH took over the Thicc Chicc Casino after Kara assassinated the previous owner, Chester McNevins, in Episode 1. It also implies DH worked with Agent K and Kara to take over the casino by "taking care" of Chester (that's just my theory ofc).

In Episode 4, Shrike is tempted by the pixel DH gave him. In a moment of cockiness, Shrike believes that he can succeed in his gambling spree from luck alone (DH even said "Today's your lucky day!" after giving him that pixel) - to which he was completely unsuccessful.

While not explicitly referenced in this drawing, a popular casino card game is Blackjack. A common misconception regarding Blackjack is that winning the game is purely determined by the luck of the players (i.e. Shrike being overconfident about his luck). In truth, there is a lot of skill and strategy required in order to be successful at the game (i.e. DH's charming persona and ability to play into Shrike's weaknesses to make him gamble all of his and Beeb's money).

Additionally, Blackjack is a game where players compete against the dealer, not each other. In my opinion, this idea makes sense (in a roundabout way, at least) for DH, given his dealings with three of the five antagonists in this episode: Agent K, Kara and Jawbone. All three have different motives to DH's, yet they work together and are connected through him.

2. Speaking of Jawbone, I wanted to reference two kinds of darts:

The game darts (which he plays in the scene at the bar)

Poison darts (which in my mind made sense given his hatred of Shrike, as seen in the green "cataclysm-poisoned saliva" and the sticker on the dart)

3. Initially, I wanted to reference a joke about "gamer rage" with Tyneen and her competitiveness.

But when watching the episode, I did not expect video games to actually be mentioned in relation to her (with Jawbone owing her a copy of the video game 'Marrow Inheritance').

4. Ah, yes: Campion Ajax (I always disliked him from the moment he was teased and, by the end of this episode, I wanted to replace all his steaks with rocks and send him on a one-way trip to the Marina Trench for trying to hurt Beebs >:[ ).

The reason why I gave Ajax a blue chess pawn was because that's how I felt he saw Beebs:

A feeble, inferior* pawn to potentially use to fulfil his selfish goals.

(*Ajax even called Beebs "inferior" when talking about his prosthetics, which... I felt so bad for poor Beebs having to endure the torment of this guy, and I'm SO glad he stood his ground and saw through his manipulation.)

5. For some reason, the idea of an arcade game fascinated me (our protagonists feeling trapped in both their insecurities and in a much bigger game, perhaps?), especially as a way to connect the antagonists to our protagonists' stories through colours (in the cabinet designs and the arcade buttons):

Yellow = Disco Head

Green = Jawbone

Red = Tyneen

Purple = Ajax

Dark blue = Kara

Black and white = Agent K

Another colour motif I included, which you can also see in the lighting and the background, is the pairing of turquoise blue (cyan) and magenta pink - which you can see in the lighting of the final battle scene.

Yes, I did intend to give Shrike and Beebs backgrounds that are different to their usual colour motifs.

Shrike (usually associated with red) = turquoise/blue

Beebs (usually associated with blue) = magenta/purple

(I'm sure you can guess why I also drew the glass screen cracked between Shrike and Beebs... given the ending.)

On top of that, you could argue that the antagonists in Episode 4 would be great as "arcade/video game bosses" who can have their own "boss fights" or merge into one big "final boss fight" (with different stages).

Also I think Agent K is cool (and would definitely make an awesome "final boss" alongside Kara) with his design and his vibes, enough said. :]

Bonus Agent K appreciation in the form of screencaps bc I can:

[havockingboo]

wait…since episode 3 is out……I can finally show my AU I shared on the patreon discord :3 (evil)

corrupted!beebs au teehee

[aprilbrowines]

God Doobus goobus lil sequence make me smile and laugh : 3

Here's to hoping monkey wrench gets more guest animators in the future.

[spectralsails]

a completely normal and happy family

[jonahmagnus]

Reporting in for yuri duty

[snickerdoodlesart]

teensy versions of all my ocs

[delicatestones]

Spinning Taylor and Alec thoughts for a second:

As funny as it is to joke that Taylor doesn't pay attention to Alec early in Worm for comic reasons, I think another big thing with Alec is that Taylor doesn't view Alec as a problem the way she does the rest of the team.

Rachel: physical, but not emotional, threat. Clearly a liability to strategy. Rachel is a big interpersonal issue in the team Taylor is compelled to solve because Taylor fixes group dynamics due to obsessive need to make everyone work together. Arguably her highest immediate priority in practice even if she would tell herself that it's actually Lisa.

Brian: emotional danger, member of the Undersiders Taylor thinks she most admires for being so cool and controlled and put together (this goes to show you that Taylor is not immune to crush-based optical illusions).

Lisa: emotional and strategic danger. Undersider most likely to figure Taylor's shit out in the sense of her totally amazing, not wildly ill-conceived undercover infiltration and in the (much scarier to Taylor) sense that Lisa might Perceive Taylor, which would be an unbearable vulnerability. (Too late!!)

Alec: is actually relatively...fine, in the Taylor lens of perception. Some of his comments have weirded her out and he's not her favorite, but she finds his ambient shithead insults easy to shrug off compared to her bullying because she can tell they aren't malicious, he seems content to go along with plans and not cause problems, and she thinks his power is limited in application (and I'm sure to a degree subconsciously thinks that as the swarm queen, what would it matter if Alec messed with her human limbs?) He is her lowest priority concern.

As a result, she is completely missing numerous warning signs about what Alec's actual deal is. The way he behaves doesn't match Taylor's early threat detection system criteria. The extent to which she misreads things that should be all but screaming at her Watch Out is very well executed - and because this is close first person, it's also a narrative sleight of hand for us, the readers. If you're watching Alec closely and know what certain things look like, as trauma sequelae, you'll be feeling the hair on the back of your neck stand up. If you're looking at what Taylor is looking at, assuming Taylor's judgments are solid, though? You'll get the jump scare.

Very effective horror movie haunted doll writing.

[solasyr]

do we think the bird references in nsbu are going to add up to something or is it just a Brennan thing

[smallturtlebomb]

yeah fuck shrike sanchez, the only red character I’m gonna be focused on for a while now is THIS FELLA!1!1!1!

[providencehq]

Reverse Robins where Damian aka Magpie discovers that their newly resurrected brother isn't newly resurrected. In fact, you discover you harmed him while your father forced you into an undercover mission to back to the League of Assassins and you don't learn till years later when he personally comes back to kill you (and fails.)

Specifically what happens is that Jason Todd aka Shrike comes back to Gotham to personally harm his older siblings since his anger is placed at them more than Bruce for his death at the hands of the Joker. This is because they pressured him to be Shadow (aka Robin.) When he comes back, he fails in his attempts for revenge and ends up getting captured by the Bats, has his identity revealed by Tim figuring out a way to take off his helmet (it looks like a motorcycle helmet.) Damian helps to initially subdue him enough to bring him back to the cave but at they're starting to get medical help, he feels the scars are familiar on Jason for some reason, panics, and books it out of the cave.

It takes time a few hands to get Jason subdued because he is freaking out the second he wakes up in the cave as they're trying to stabilize him. Mostly due to blood loss, Jason thinks he's back in the League and is trying to ask for forgiveness, mentioning Tim and Damian (both seen as heirs to the League by Ra's.)

Stephanie/Black Mask ends up searching for Damian after he ran off and we get this interaction.

[boiledegghole]

bad times on good days

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOOSE TO THE RESCUE!!!!!!! NO FEELINGS BUDDIES LEFT BEHIND