Syconium
182

July 9th, 2017






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60 . by: Witticaster July 26, 2017, 12:25 am

I'm late, haha... but just wanted to comment on how 'ripped' Cherry II has looked in these last few pages, lean with visible muscles. It's really striking and drives home how physically fit she is. Guess her physique wasn't so visually apparent when we first met her since she was covered in longer winter pelt.

Also, echoing everyone else: 3rd to last panel is stunning. As is the challenge: "Can you move me like I move you, Fig?!"
59 . by: Witch July 11, 2017, 1:54 pm

Ah, I wish I could contribute more, but I'll pledge! Sorry it's not much.
58 . by: July 11, 2017, 1:04 pm

@Witch it's the most recent post on the patreon
57 . by: Witch July 11, 2017, 12:55 pm

Hi Sloane, can I ask where that post was?
56 . by: Downhill July 11, 2017, 2:49 am

You know what? Sure! I can put in an extra £10 a month. I hope this helps!
55 . by: July 11, 2017, 12:55 am

Can't do much, but went in for the $1/month. NofNA is too big a part of my life to not help!
54 . by: sloane July 11, 2017, 12:47 am

Hi yall! I've known Zack for a long time and really enjoy reading everyone's discussion here. Just wanted to remind y'all to support his Patreon if you can! Even a dollar helps! His recent post said that he might not be able to continue doing his comics as frequently (if at all) which I think would be a great loss. His work has been immensely creatively impactful on me and I know y'all appreciate his work as well! Do your part! 🙌🏾

URL : http://patreon.com/nofna
53 . by: July 10, 2017, 11:46 pm

It would for sure be interesting to see Fig break through to Sherry via art. Not sure if the story will head in that direction, but I would be very curious to see if Fig could 'move' her somehow through her art.
52 . by: Seven July 10, 2017, 9:19 pm

Maybe Sherry'll get a foxhound client.
51 . by: Kai July 10, 2017, 7:21 pm

Mutt, I hadn't even thought of that. I want XX to do a painting of Sherry on the large canvas now.
50 . by: Mutt July 10, 2017, 6:55 pm

It seems like at this point Sherry's become an extension of Green's power, influence and frustration over the brothel. Another indirect form of control, like the strangle collar.

Wouldn't it be interesting if XX could capture an aspect of Sherry in that large canvas?
49 . by: July 10, 2017, 4:57 pm

i really hope Sherry does get taken down or at least knocked around somehow by Lemon.... Sherry's so much stronger and more experienced but it feels like there's some build up for something like that to happen. i'm rooting for you lemon!
48 . by: July 10, 2017, 1:53 am

Normally violence is grounds to get an employee fired, but it seems violence is encouraged here...
47 . by: Zack July 9, 2017, 11:48 pm

Hi,

Thank you for the correction to Lemon's dialogue color; it has now been corrected.
46 . by: Magenta July 9, 2017, 7:16 pm

@45: yeah, maybe build up their own society from scratch!
45 . by: July 8, 2017, 8:48 pm

They should all just leave and join Cherry in the wild. Have a circle where they all look out for each other.
44 . by: July 8, 2017, 2:32 pm

OOH there's a link!
43 . by: July 8, 2017, 2:28 pm

@41 what?
42 . by: July 8, 2017, 10:17 am

LOL @ COMMENT 33
41 . by: July 8, 2017, 6:05 am

Me @ Sherry

URL : http://youtu.be/jJv9r5SQ9Qg
40 . by: July 8, 2017, 3:58 am

Whoever hired this crazy bitch needs to also be kicked to the curb.
39 . by: Meww July 8, 2017, 2:04 am

i feel like there's some symbolism between purple and magenta w/ Sherry- in the panel where she stammers near the beginning, half of her face is full greyscale, even the mouth- and the eye is purple rather than the magenta we usually see and that shows strongly in the staring lemon down panel. Also in the panel where she hits plum, the eye smear has both purple and pink- possibly showing some inner struggle or problem? its hard to say.
38 . by: Juna July 8, 2017, 12:41 am

And I agree @hazard, her representation in this scene's been fantastic, really dramatic.
37 . by: Juna July 8, 2017, 12:38 am

I can see Sherry not completing a thesis on account of her contempt for society, but otherwise I'm not directly picking up past insecurities from her; funnily enough that might be because we're projecting XX's own struggle directly onto her, like XX is doing more literally.

It's certainly not out of the question though! I think I just like her being a domineering and power-drunk character, who's sniffing out the one threat to her incumbency.
36 . by: hazard July 7, 2017, 9:28 pm

@33 XD!!

People are saying Sherry is insecure and overcompensating. And that's highly likely. But, we haven't seen any overt signs of that. To me she has read as absolute this whole time- her power HAS felt insurmountable. No one can stand up to her. She could easily kill all of them, and I promise she will keep her word to Fig.

Yet once again the power of sex underestimates the will of a person in society. You cannot have a body without a mind!! To not have the mental with the physical would be to not have a sentient person. And that will always leave the person susceptible, no matter how physically powerful they are!! Psychological warfare is still warfare.

I love how Sherry is drawn and her super saturated colors: she exhudes power, is overwhelming. The surreal color scheme of this arc is so well thought out!!
35 . by: Kanya July 7, 2017, 9:27 pm

Zach, will this arc be longer than the others? I'm just curious for my theories, haha

I like the idea of Sherry having failed/been rejected in a similar fashion XX was. It deepens her character, and would make more sense why she's as mean as she is. She'd be bitter, and this is how she handles her frothing hate for things she can't control, but so desperately tries to.
I really love this arc. It's almost like I read these at just the time I needed to. I started reading 10% close to when it started, but finished it while I was doing work with homeless people in my home city ( which was interesting to see the parallel debate of what was in front of me, and in the comic, in a form). Then Secretary in two days while I've been fighting dark thoughts after my mum passed. Still need to read Solar System and Lycosa. I keep starting them.
And now Syconium while I'm going through a hard time with my own art, and lack of a desire to pursue it after some personal things.


I dunno, just thoughts. I really appreciate that these comics are made aviable to us

URL : http://Theroamingredwolf.deviantart.com/
34 . by: July 7, 2017, 9:07 pm

@33 LSHDLHF!!
33 . by: July 7, 2017, 9:05 pm

Sherry couldn't draw the other eye so she decided that art sucks
32 . by: Furrama July 7, 2017, 8:24 pm

It seems to me like these last three pages have set both (S)XY and XX up to a failure state.

They might dig out of it later, but that's what it feels like right now.
31 . by: July 7, 2017, 7:24 pm

This is probably gonna set her sessions with Smooth back by a bit. Think she'll end up snapping at him, or continue to confide in him?
30 . by: Rila July 7, 2017, 7:03 pm

We must be reading two different comics, 29. She definitely does pick fights. There's no reason for her to be smacking around Plum and Fig, and yet she is, simply because she wants to.
29 . by: July 7, 2017, 6:59 pm

@28 she doesn't pick fights though.
28 . by: July 7, 2017, 6:49 pm

Wouldn't be surprised if they expelled her for her attitude, constantly picking fights. Or if her thesis got people hurt with no regard to their wellbeing.
27 . by: Kaidona July 7, 2017, 5:54 pm

While it was briefly touched upon in Secretary, I'm not sure where else Sherry might learn fighting techniques and weight buffers, so College is my best guess.

URL : http://kaidona.deviantart.com
26 . by: Silkworm July 7, 2017, 5:47 pm

But she is, isn't she? It seems pretty clear that she's got some kind of training from the College... so she'd have to know about and have studied Art. If so did she fail out? Was her Art rejected? Is her sexuality the only thing she has left?

She's clearly a reflection to Fig. XX was a student of the fine arts. The little 'A' art. Her art is introspective and looks inward to find the outward meaning. By it's nature it invites others to do the same. Even as XX became Fig this aspect of her studies and art still bleeds through in how she interacts with others. Her being confrontational is still passive. XX seeks dialog, though maybe in a depth that it hard to communicate traditionally, and as Fig has opened herself up to the the canvas of other's desires, to fill in the role they seek of her but never stepping out of that passive mindset.

Sherry, should the theory of her being an ex-student of the College hold water, was a student of Art. The physical and metaphysical, big 'A' Art. She's confrontational and abrasive, throwing her weight around, literally and metaphorically. These are traites that she would have needed and would have had nurtured in the competitive College environment. Her Art is very much in the world of the physical. Physical contact, physical confrontations, her own physical form, appearance, and power. All of her approaches are physical, and physical reponses are what she expects in return. It's what she's been trained to understand and even out of the College environment she still carries it with her.

Whatever had her leave and shut away her Art I'm not sure of, but in the end she's actually not that different from Fig, which is why she see's her with the White Coat.

Two A/arts that promote different approaches and mindsets... and two characters to represent them. But A/art is still A/art and each half is just the other side of the coin.
25 . by: Rila July 7, 2017, 4:59 pm

Just when I think Sherry can't get any worse, she proves me wrong.
24 . by: Dani July 7, 2017, 4:41 pm

@23 Wouldn't that be a twist!
23 . by: July 7, 2017, 4:22 pm

Maybe Sherry is a failed artist too.
22 . by: Seven July 7, 2017, 3:36 pm

I think there's some insecurity there, yeah. Sherry just can't fathom that someone would be more interested in a passive expression of Art than a physical one.
21 . by: Crescent July 7, 2017, 3:27 pm

Urgh, this hits close to home, in a way. Not in the sex aspect, but. My parents tried to use force to block me from going to art school, because they think art is useless and pointless. I snuck out and haven't looked back since. I want to hug Fig so hard.
20 . by: kuu July 7, 2017, 3:25 pm

did sherry maybe have a hobby? like, was she a MMA and stopped winning matches and be came bitter and had an external crisis, and a brutal job coach
19 . by: ku July 7, 2017, 3:23 pm

i just chaulk mine up to coitophobia, identidy crisis, something that may or may not be autochorissexual or a personality lapse not liking to be touched much, angry ambevlence and something else.
like "missing that boat at age ______"

it's that, it's like that, but not. I don't rerember how long I've been having my crisis of "being me". maybe it happend from surgery trauma. I think big parts of me changed when I had serious neck surgery, and my mom said when I had the rod put in my back at age 6, I changed, not sure if she said "i got better"

and then there is the killing off parts of my self at age 17

being intimidated by people, botherd by real genitalia and thinking i can deal with it by fascinating folks with the weird wide world of animal genitalia.

and i guess the thought of being "acted on" feels like predatory violation, maybe not even how sweet or frisky fun it would start as
but there are 3000 ways to be asexual. I am guessing a person can have a philia and still be asexual, right?

but i just can't form that persona for myself without being revulted to some degree, part self loathing and not being happy with the looks(which I don't think is body dysmoprhia)
18 . by: Dani July 7, 2017, 3:21 pm

The lineup of Fig's art really highlights the progression of her struggle. Even though she has strong opinions about her non-representational preferences, I don't think even those are what she really wants to create.
17 . by: July 7, 2017, 3:20 pm

Sherry is losing it. In a way it's reminding me of Azula from Avatar. They both believe fear controls people, and display excessive brute force to do so. Eventually Azula slips and starts seeing threats to her influence everywhere, and it leads to her psychological break and downfall. I wonder if Sherry is headed down a similar path.
16 . by: Juna July 7, 2017, 2:49 pm

@bluefan You're right, I didn't notice before. She stammers a bit after she lays her last hit on XX. For something that supposedly has no power, Sherry is eager to stamp out any influence of art. It's kinda like the roundabout reasoning Sherry used to convince XX that Smoothie's investigation of sex was both pointless and dangerous to their position.

I think, in departure from earlier nofna arcs, that XX won't necessarily channel her art into a physical style. It'd be an admission, at some level, to Sherry's level of thinking, of the supremacy of the physical. Past nofna arcs culminated in characters fighting it out, even with the tools of abstraction at their disposal, over singular ideas. The world of Syconium's been set up in a broader scope, to have us consider the way power, sex, desire, and Art all function in an increasingly complex society (as per Smoothie's comment abt society growing too fast for Nature). The greater struggle for XX is the literal and symbolic labyrinth that influences her actions, her will. Everyone's wills, including our main antagonists'.

Cherry is right on one point, that you can't ignore the realm of the physical. Seems like XX needs to find another way that her art can spur will into action, if she can't fight it out herself. Maybe it'll look like Discovery's gambit at Mercury, back in Solar System.
15 . by: July 7, 2017, 2:47 pm

I'm not surprised Plum called her Cherry; that's her name. She stole it, but there's nothing else to call her.
14 . by: bluefan July 7, 2017, 2:07 pm

I've been thinking a lot about what I would want to add to the conversation of the last page and missed the opportunity to join in. It's the first time I express myself like this. All your stories hit me personally, but in a good way.
I have wondered if I am asexual, although I've been scared to "make it official" by giving it a name, because I felt alone and weird and didn't know anybody like that.
I have close to zero personal experience when it comes to intimate relationships (team virgin, 24yo female; had a few dates, but chickened out before it got anywhere really serious).
I do know I can be aroused, but that's always been just from pictures and videos, never a real-life person. And the idea of really having sex has been scary, I have very little trust in people on that level. Which feels very strange, because I do LOVE hugging.
The thing is, I think I've never really experienced sexual attraction, not in the way the media and my friends and family describe it to me. That always made me feel like the odd one out. It's been so interesting to read other people's perspectives and explanations of their preferences. I feel less alone now :)

One person wondered why so many asexual people would be interested in this sex-themed nofna arc. For me its exactly because it is unfamiliar. It explores a topic which I've wanted to understand for a long time now, this strange thing that made me different from other people even though I couldn't do anything about it. Syconium offered me a fun and safe window to explore how sex works - or what influence it can have - on a psychological level.

Buuh, enough of the personal stuff. ^^;

Is it just me, or is Sherry stammering a bit? It seems to me as if she's losing it in a way, as if she's scared of something and desperately tries to hide it. Any thoughts?
13 . by: kuu July 7, 2017, 2:03 pm

is Fig going to manifest her art paintings into physical attacks(again right?)
12 . by: natoon July 7, 2017, 1:52 pm

Sherry is nuts. That girl is defiantly off her rocker.
11 . by: Downhill July 7, 2017, 1:39 pm

Damn, the third from last panel is chilling. That expression on her face. I really hope Plum is okay.

Man though, for all Sherry's posturing, *Fig* is the one who still held the title of 'number one' until her down streak just now.
10 . by: camila sc July 7, 2017, 1:37 pm

"you can't touch music,
but music can touch you."

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lajJT-kpy6M
9 . by: Kaidona July 7, 2017, 1:28 pm

Honestly I get the feeling that Sherry really hates the idea of somebody having an interest other than sex within the field with her. Newsflash: you can have more than one, lady. XX's existential crisis aside.

URL : http://kaidona.deviantart.com
8 . by: theroguez July 7, 2017, 1:17 pm

the third to last panel is hauntingly beautiful... I think you've really outdone yourself with this comic, Zack. new Cherry sounds like she's trying too hard to prove a point, maybe even to herself.
7 . by: Kaidona July 7, 2017, 1:07 pm

Color error is more likely, though it's fun to wonder for a moment.

You can find a lot of video on YouTube of cats chasing foxes out of their home territory. They're always titled "cat vs. fox". Apparently if foxes are really determined to make a meal out of a healthy adult cat they'll try to lure them away into some thick brush where they can ambush them. Supposedly. This is only what I've read via YouTube comment threads, but I haven't seen much response to the contrary from those experienced.

Usually they only prey on young and sick cats, and otherwise will just try to steal an adult's food instead.

ANYWAY, I'm not terribly surprised. I think Plum's done it before, but my memory could be screwy.

URL : http://kaidona.deviantart.com
6 . by: Witch July 7, 2017, 1:07 pm

Lost your stolen flower, there, Sherry.
5 . by: Furrama July 7, 2017, 1:06 pm

I am not sure that Lemon is just walking away. She might be about to do something.

Comedians are like artists for feelings. All of this is hurting her so much.
4 . by: Budgie July 7, 2017, 12:59 pm

Size or not, Lemon already tried giving Cherry II a piece of her mind after she originally showed up and attacked Cherry. She knows she can't win that fight. It's miserable to see her have to just walk away from Cherry II beating up Fig and Plum because she knows she's powerless, like everyone else here.
3 . by: Nobody July 7, 2017, 12:55 pm

lemon's text is probably that color by error; since this update is about 10-13 hours later than they usually are, i'm guessing zack could've been pretty tired by the time he was adding the text bubbles (last step of the process)! that looks like the yellow of one of the guide mice.

interesting stuff about cats and foxes, i didn't know that at all. i also think it's interesting that plum called sherry by cherry in this page.
2 . by: Kaidona July 7, 2017, 12:47 pm

And I still need to finish collecting my thoughts before I hit submit, hahaha

Lemon seems pretty agitated by having to walk away. I probably would be too; in the wild, red foxes are terrified of HOUSE CATS, let alone their larger and more powerful ancestral relatives. People have told stories of their farm cats not only chasing them off but sometimes killing them, and it's not hard to imagine that a wildcat would easily have the power to do the same.

Lemon, unfortunately, had been giving up much of her food for Cherry. As of this page she's not at her best and wouldn't necessarily size up to Sherry well.

URL : http://kaidona.deviantart.com
1 . by: Kaidona July 7, 2017, 12:40 pm

Plum :(

Is it me, or has Lemon's text greyed out a la Solar System?

also i was a bit indisposed for much of the discussion on the last page, but i too am an asexual reader. i am amazed at how many of us there are in the comments

URL : http://kaidona.deviantart.com