#shrike answers

[shrike-nest]

JOHN EGBERT?

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[abyssal-ilk]

is anyone going to write a tragic, homoerotic vivienne fic where she recruits a bard who was sent to kill her and said bard falls in love with her but forever yearns silently because she knows they can never be together. is anyone going to do it or do i have to do everything in this house

[havockingboo]

*cha cha's real smooth in your ask box about the second enigma AU* What's the dynamic between Zahari, Shrike, and Vivek in this AU? :]c

Whatever the hell this is is their entire dynamic

LOL but in all seriousness, their dynamics are…something.

They get on each other’s nerves, but at least with Shrike and Zahari, they can still bond with each other and get along since no one else can handle their stupidity and lunacy. Vivek on the other hand is just antagonistic towards them. No matter if they get the job done like he asks, no matter if they’re on their best behavior, he is just a hateful man that maybe just likes to be an ass, who knows!

[goldenshrikecomic]

I find myself wondering what Kasko did for Cutlass to kick him in the nuts xD

[fanby-fckry]

If Alastor had bird traits, what would bird species would they be?

Ooh, this is a good question. Very much in the spirit of random anons. (This is a compliment, I promise.)

My first thought was that it’d have to be something intelligent, something capable of mimicking human speech. Alastor’s voice is very important to him, so I think if he had traits from an animal in a class where some are extremely good at mimicking human speech and some aren’t, he’d be one of the talking ones.

That narrows it down to mostly parrots and corvids, but I’m willing to throw in Australian Magpies (not corvids, despite the name) because they’re such menaces, and I think swooping season is a fun parallel to the fanon idea of Alastor going through rut.

I like the idea that rut isn’t necessarily sexual for Alastor, that he just gets extra combattive and irritable. It’d be similar for swooping. He wouldn’t be protecting offspring or a mate, he’d just get extra territorial about his radio tower for no apparent reason, snatching up any demons who get too close.

Now, back to corvids and parrots.

For parrots, I narrowed it down to two species based on intelligence and speech, as well as the additional criteria of having some red on them, somewhere. This leaves us with African Grey Parrots (red tail feathers) and Scarlet Macaws (mostly red).

But deer aren’t exactly red, so I don’t think that should exclude our next contestants, the American Crow, the Fish Crow and the Chihuahuan Raven.

One of my favorite things about Alastor being a deer is that the particular species I believe him to be (a White Tailed Deer) is native to Louisiana. Now, you’re not exactly going to find Australian Magpies, African Greys, or Scarlet Macaws flying around in Louisiana unless somebody’s pet got loose.

Meanwhile, American Crows, Fish Crows (the two species of crows most often observed mimicking human speech) and Chihuahuan Ravens are all birds that Alastor would’ve been fairly likely to encounter during his lifetime.

And then, after all that research, I remembered the existence of the shrike…

The Loggerhead Shrike fits none of my original criteria, but is native to Louisiana and is famous for hunting prey that is sometimes as large or larger than they are and impaling them on sticks.

You see this bird?

This bird is a serial killer.

Ok, so that’s anthropomorphizing a bird that’s really just hunting to eat, like most carnivores do, but like. If you know this bird, you know I’m not wrong.

They’re nicknamed the butcherbird, and they’ve fucking earned it.

Bonus points for two of their common prey items being spiders and snakes, for all your RadioDust, RadioApple, and RadioSnake needs, platonic or otherwise.

I have some choice sections from their wikipedia page that I’d like to include, but I’m putting them below the cut in case anyone’s squeamish about details of animal death in a predator-prey context.

Loggerhead shrikes have been repeatedly observed killing prey larger than themselves by spearing the neck or head of the animal and twisting. The speed at which this occurs causes a whiplash injury to the animal. The neck strength of the shrikes compensates, making their talon weakness inconsequential.

Although loggerhead shrikes are passerines, they are a predatory species that hunt during the day. They primarily eat insects, but also consume arachnids, reptiles, amphibians, rodents, bats and small birds. They have even eaten venomous snakes such as the water adder. The size of prey ranges from 0.001 g (3.5×10−5 oz) insects to 25 g (0.88 oz) mice or reptiles.

They are not true birds of prey, as they lack the large, strong talons used to catch and kill prey. Instead, they are sit-and-wait hunters that stalk prey by hawking and diving from elevated perches.

Due to the shrike's small size in proportion to the size of its prey, it must rely on specialized adaptations to facilitate its hunting. The powerful, hooked beak of the loggerhead shrike allows it to sever the neck of a small vertebrate. Larger prey are subjected to impaling, in which they are pushed down into a sharp projection, such as a thorn or barbed wire. The bird can then tear off flesh by using the projection as an anchor. The shrike may also use the thorn to fasten and store its food to return to at a later time.

The motion of impalement appears to be instinctive, as parent shrikes do not demonstrate the behavior to their nestlings.

Yeah, I think we have a winner here, folks.

[wyn0rrific]

the guy who only draws shrike would like to file a request. u wont be able to guess who its for

shoves this to u and runs

[bardic-perdita]

Shrike Reference Sheet

Name: Shrike

Pronouns: They/Them

Class: Oath of Vengeance paladin -> Becomes an Oathbreaker after their reunion with Gortash in Act 3

Romance: Astarion and Halsin (and in an AU Breoch as well)

Personality: At first, they are unnervingly still and quiet. They only speak when spoken to, only act when they need to act, and fight like a blade forged in the heat of a thousand battles. Though once you have moved beyond the hard exterior, Shrike is a kind and caring soul, with an unwavering sense of justice. For Shrike, violence is their chosen form of protection. They choose to be the sword that vanquishes evil and the shield to protect those that cannot defend themselves. They still don't talk very much, but their smile and their actions speak far louder than any bard's song ever could.

Act One Introduction here

More info under cut:

Camp clothes and body markings:

Slayer form (pre-tadpole):

Chosen of Bhaal armour:

Other details:

Spotify Playlist

All content for Shrike is under the tag "Durge! Shrike"

[loobydoopoppycock]

Love the fact that shrike is fearful of old salad finger, Also salad's eyes are unnerving yet cute?

Mr Finger’s eyeballs are my favourite part of him to draw, aside from his hands of course. I’m glad I managed to toe the creepy-cute line with them, though I don’t think Shrike can see the cute side lol

[wordstome]

Hi, Bucca!

I just wanted to let you know that Shrike was such a life-changing fic for me 🥺❤️ I love Alex and Thorn so much (Of course, I do adore your other stories! Your writing is so beautiful, I think about it a lot, and I'm extremely fond of your perception of König!)

I know you've been occupied with Kingdom Come and Now That We Don't Talk recently, but if it's alright, could you share a bit of how Alex and Thorne lived after that? How did the traveling go? Did they settle down permanently one day? I'm completely enchanted by the way you write second-chance romances <3

ANOOOOOOOONNNNNNN thank you for sharing this with me 🥺 I'm so glad you connected with Shrike so much. I'll take any excuse to write about Alex and Thorn >:3

They had a great time. It's kind of an opportunity for Thorn to come out of this shell she's been in for a long time and be with someone who doesn't constantly put her on high alert. Obviously, emotional abuse doesn't go away immediately like physical abuse does. It's a state very similar to depression, which she likely did have as well. You don't really think about anything outside your immediate day-to-day and become unable to think about the future. Getting her out of her old environment helps her a huge amount.

I do think they settle down permanently one day, but not for a while, actually. Alex probably wants to immediately marry her, but she's not ready to commit to that again so quickly, even though she trusts him absolutely. She probably spends a few years figuring out what makes her happy and keeps her engaged, maybe starts a career. I don't think she'd even live with him at first, which of course drives him nuts. He's worried she's going to find someone who's also bad for her, but he's equally worried she's going to find better than him—someone more emotionally stable who doesn't have a pattern of murdering abusive husbands, maybe.

Alex gets deployed and is away for weeks or months at a time, which of course makes him even more paranoid, so he probably does do a little bit of creeping on her. (This is still König we're talking about here.) He tells himself it's just for her safety as a single woman living all alone, but he's also watching to make sure she doesn't bring anybody home. She never does, because she's busy living a life that doesn't involve any partners, and especially not any men. She's having a very healthy journey to recovery and he's checking the cameras he left in her ceiling lights between ops 🙄

They meet up and spend a ton of time together when he's on leave, and eventually it kind of becomes a forgone conclusion for her to just live in his house instead of having her own place as a formality—she's always there anyway because it's her job. They have the kind of relationship where it's difficult to point to a specific date when they started officially dating: being a part of each others' lives is just the status quo. So I think when they do eventually get married, nobody is surprised except for Alex. This is totally influenced by Salome's highschool sweetheart au where she proposes to him, so Thorn is the one who pops the question. Alex would never do it because he understands that not only is she going anywhere, but getting married is something she needs to be ready for first.

I don't really want to say whether or not they have kids, it's up to the individual reader :3 But I do think they live a very happy, quiet life together, which they deserve.

[lifeserieswarriors]

anyone related to each other? like siblings, parents, etc?

yes!

sunfeather and canary(paws)tumble are littermates!

they used to travel with each other and some other cats, until, well.

their names were shrike and canary.

they don't talk much anymore. running away from omnipresent gods and changing your identity does that to a family.

(more under the cut)

nobody in the main cast has parental relations with each other however npcs? fair game. irl cats of the ccs?? they're kittens now. they do not speak dialogue they are still literally just cats.

sunfeather's got copperpaw (maui) & pearlpaw (pearl)!

canarytumble has bigpaw (norman) and flickkit (flick).

and, naturally, ivytalon's got jellie. jelle's name is not changed you cannot change the jellie name.

as for actual npcs:

sunfeather and redmumble are happy fathers to random stolen kittypet mouse toys! (grumbots!)

[image text: Sunfeather-- these aren't kittens?? (in faded text, cut off:) where did you even get these things what in the name of (st)arclan. the text pointing to the mice: Jrumbouse (top) & Mumbouse (bottom).]

tiny tom? a baby squirrel. sludgepond takes good care of him. and hermes is an entire bobcat kitten! for some reason! claycloud completely ignores how he is clearly not normal cat sized and loves him anyways. sheephop's fully aware, does not care, as he was raised by a warren of rabbits and that's the least weird thing he's seen in his life.

[freeusemuses]

Squishy! (for Shrike from a confused Caine)

"Rougher~"

[demaparbat-hp]

Hello Dema.

Music Asks #4, 5, 6 and 7 please. ^.^

4: A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about

Hey, call me back when you get this / Or when you've got a minute / We really need to talk / Wait, you know what? Maybe just forget it / 'Cause by the time you get this / Your number might be blocked

—Party Favor by Billie Eilish

I'm a very introverted person, so it's hard for me to make lasting connections with my peers—but when I care about someone, I do it completely. That makes the pain feel worse when it comes.

I had a friend. They had always been sweet to me, and I was nice in return. Cordial, more often than not, because there had always been something off. I see it now.

They claim they fell for me somewhere along the way. Gradually, they began to get insistent, texting me at all times and asking me out and calling me pet names they knew I felt uncomfortable with. They made me feel guilty for the longest time, just because I didn't return their feelings and was honest about it. They said I lead them on. Said to never talk to them again. Said it was my fault.

Throwing ourselves under the rug for the sake of someone else is kind of a family trait, so it was really hard for me to find the courage to put a stop to it. In the days previous to that conversation, I listened to this song. It gave me strength to cut them off from my life before more damage was done.

5: A song that needs to be played LOUD

How are you sleeping at night? / How do you close both your eyes? / Living with all of those lives on your hands? / Standing alone on that hill / Using your fuel to kill / We won't take it standing still / Watch us dance

—Gasoline by Måneskin

Connect your phone to the speakers, turn up your volume to the maximum, and play the song. You're welcome.

6: A song that makes you want to dance

You're my heart, you're my soul / Yeah, a feelin' that our love will grow / You're my heart, you're my soul / That is the only thing I really know

—You're My Heart, You're My Soul by Modern Talking

I blame this one on my dad. He really loves these late-eighties-to-early-2000's disco hits, and some of those songs clawed their way into my Playlist, if only for nostalgia's sake.

7: A song to drive to

Remember me, love / When I'm reborn / As a shrike to your sharp / And glorious thorn

—Shrike by Hozier

I don't drive, so I don't really have a Let's Hit The Road!™ Playlist, but Shrike is my Scenery Song and it deserves a special mention.

This song feels like spring. It feels like laying down in the grass and watching the tree leaves flutter in the wind. It feels like peace and earth and life.

(If I ever need a Let's Hit The Road!™ Song, though, it would probably be Ride by Twenty One Pilots)

[havockingboo]

Tell me everything you can about the Second Enigma AU.

What is the key difference between it and regular Monkey Wrench?

Divulge please

I’m curious

HOOOO BOY let me tell you right now, it is a MESS of ideas all mashed together!

Really, this thing is just a mish-mash of “what if” scenarios and theories of my own just put into one big AU!

“what if shrike wasn’t found by LAW and instead by one of my ocs? What if Beebs became a LAW enforcer instead of Shrike? What if Beebs and Shrike never met? What if Some characters roles were swapped around? With if this happened with my ocs to make this work?” etc. etc.

If you can’t already tell too, it’s just a big excuse to shove my ocs with the boys even more too haha

Soooo to give a summary without giving too much awaaay, Shrike was found by Vivek, my oc who’s an ex-LAW scientist, took him in and raised him alongside his living abomination, Zahari. They both grow up pretty much like siblings would in a crappy environment, sticking together cause they’re all that they got. They’re stupid and cause nothing but trouble for Vivek.

They become Vivek’s henchmen, doing dirty jobs to get by like hunting bounties and breaking into low secured areas to steal and pawn off items. Becomes pretty notorious criminals, which catches the eyes of one of the LAW officers who’s been on their tail for months :]

Beebs, ooooh Beebs…Nothing changes much about the big guy! Only that his morals are being challenged at every turn while on the job. Especially when he runs into Shrike :3

Lot’s of fun stuff!! High stakes, stupid scenarios that make me laugh, original takes and silly theories I threw into this whole thing just for fun!! Oh and of course angst and lore oh yeah baby

[careful-fear]

Just read your recent prompt about Quincey and Shrike! And I loved it! I wanted to know if there was a power imbalance in the relationship between the two of them, considering Shrike is a god. Do they really like Quincey? Or is there something more sinister behind it all?

had to drop everything to answer this because wow am i pathetic about them.

okay so power? it's complicated. shrike is a god, but any influence they had is centuries old. in fact, when they first met shrike had nothing but a crumbling temple and a few skeletons for company. and what shrike is capable of is mostly unknown. and honestly that is also little. they're weak, they're drained, they're falling apart. and for reasons that are spoilers, quincey does give them power. but still a small amount. quincey himself has been raised to think incredibly highly of witches, so he is also a bit arrogant when it comes to gods.

their relationship stems from loneliness and greed, and the fact that they are there. and even if it's under forced circumstances they're staying.

there is also a lot of manipulation, on both their ends. they both have things they want out of the relationship that is not considered healthy but boils down to complete reliance and possession of each other.

quincey can leave, quincey provides food for shrike, and shrike can not leave, but they can provide safety and even home. which, to me, makes their power dynamics incredibly complicated, and not really a case of one person continually having influence over the other.

but they do genuinely love each other. i speak a lot about quincey, and it might be easier to extrapolate his feelings, so---shrike adores quincey. shrike believes quincey is fascinating and beautiful and a reason. quincey stays, quincey expresses free will, quincey fights back, quincey serves them, quincey is perfect and feels like fate. and shrike would do anything for him, as long he remains shrike's.

their love isn't healthy, but it is mutual. they want to own each other and be owned. they want to protect each other to the point of burning down the world, and that's the crux of their relationship.

[fanby-fckry]

Hello! It's me, the bird anon, now with more confidence and new bird lore. While not particularly pointed out in loggerhead shrikes, shrikes in general are described being able to mimic sounds to lure their prey closer, and part of their courting is showing off their "larders", aka places where they hang up their kills to eat later!

Aww, hi, bird anon! I’ve had this in my inbox for a while now (and actually still have one more ask from you on anon), because I got behind on answering asks, but I’m happy to see you off anon! And we’re mutuals now, too!

Ooh, shrikes mimicking their prey definitely gives them more Alastor points, especially if we get into the whole, “Alastor keeps his victims’ voices” theory/fanon.

And I can totally see Alastor bonding with friends and/or partners by showing off his kills and the places he stores their corpses. :3

Rosie and Vox have definitely been given the tour, and I bet sometimes Vox still looks somewhat fondly upon Alastor’s snack hoard through his Voyeur-Scopes and sighs, waxing poetic about the time they shared together. To which Val replies, “I don’t kink-shame, except when I do, but getting nostalgic over Alastor’s leftovers is kind of pathetic.”

[infinity-cantos]

"That's a....comforting painting". [The wire]

Thomas turned about and grimaced at the painting before him. It was  . . .  a product of inferior talent and mind.   The painting before them showed abstract and ghoulish imagery, something akin to Vincent Price’s mind on LSD.

The canvas showed what looked like a wicked field. Blood and twisting trees, occupied by ghastly shapes that were vaguely human. The centerpiece being a walking corpse, wizened and eyeless. Carrying a lantern, emitting red light. The form was known as “Grave Thought”, a popular style of the 1700s.

Regardless, there was nothing to admire about it. Thomas looked at his pamphlet and read about it.

“Huh . . . painted by an Imp. Well, that explains it.”

Thomas said, already showing his disdain for Imps. He walks further up to the portrait. Already, becoming an expert in art, even if he doesn’t know how to wield a brush.

“It’s ugly. I see no reason why it would be comforting.”