NofNA, "Syconium" page #76

Syconium
76

July 6th, 2016

29 .	by:	October 10, 2017, 10:29 pm
Yeah, it was clear that the VD was going to bite it.

28 .	by: Furrama	October 10, 2017, 3:19 pm
It occurs to me that a certain panel on this page also serves as foreshadowing.

27 .	by: Watcher	July 8, 2016, 3:22 pm
Mirror, mirror, on the wall. So much symbolism, so much to try to interpret. Where to begin? Panels 1 thru 4: Her reflection looks stronger and more aggressive with each new client, as her fur darkens to purple. What's a Purple Passion? I think we're finally getting the answer to that classically forbidden question, no longer a joke. Panels 6 & 7: On the left, XX seems depressed, as though she's thinking, "What have I done with my life?" Meanwhile, her mirror image on the right wears a self-satisfied smirk that seems to communicate, "I know EXACTLY what I'm doing, and I'm loving it!" Big black tail-tips meet in the center, forming a dark, spiky oblivion. Bottom panels: Giant marred canvas is probably pretty dusty from neglect by now. The darkening gray of XX's paw makes me think she's growing cold inside, becoming even more depressed. Sad.

26 .	by: MC	July 8, 2016, 10:19 am
@23 Thanks for pointing that out! I missed that cue. You inspired me to go back and re-read the whole story -- a lot of things make more sense now, the color purple among them >:]

25 .	by: North	July 8, 2016, 4:39 am
@Sabrina I feel the same! I only recently started commenting, but I started reading 10%+ when it first started. Looking at the dates, I must've been about...16? I've always found these comics so inspiring, and reading the discussions here has added so much to it, it's always cool seeing what everyone thinks!

24 .	by: Sabrina	July 8, 2016, 12:55 am
I just want to stop for a second to say that I've been reading Nofna since 10%+ was in its very early stages, and I freaking LOVE this community of intelligent, observant, critical thinkers... Everyone always coming together to discuss and interpret Zack's amazing creations! There's never bickering or anything - just super fascinating, thoughtful readers all appreciating and interpreting the obviously very deep meanings behind these wonderful comics. Love it so much. Sorry for all the fluff words. Just can't describe how cool it all is!

23 .	by: hazard	July 7, 2016, 8:34 pm
Purple is the color of sexual power. See: page 8 & 11

22 .	by: Nobody	July 7, 2016, 5:01 pm
well, we have seen some of her paintings in color. the painting that used to hang on her wall, and the paintings piled up at the end of page 17. it's still possible that they are actually in color, though. worth noting: classic painting technique is to paint the entire thing in black and white first to get the values right. this is called an underpainting. then, you glaze color on top of it. that process may be related to the monochromatic and artistic themes of the story so far. also, to note: xx is not just pure grey/white outside of her reflection-- she is additionally rarely shaded or rendered aside from outlines. flat, undefined, lacking depth.

21 .	by: Furrama	July 7, 2016, 4:46 pm
@Witti Oh THAT instance. When it's way in the background and tiny? I'm not sure if that's a hint that it's really in color or just an atmospheric choice. I'm leaning atmospheric but I could be wrong.

20 .	by: Witticaster	July 7, 2016, 3:51 pm
@Furrama I love page 38 as well, it's so beautifully executed. But I was referring to page 39 panel 11, not page 38. And your mention about firsts... I bet she's remembering the art shop owner's words right now too, when she said she wanted this canvas because she felt she had to go as big as possible. "What if you say something too loudly that you wish you hadn't? Before your message were perfected. After all, you only get one first impression. Then the canvas is spent." Right now, she's realizing her message is far from what she wants it to be.

19 .	by: Furrama	July 7, 2016, 2:47 pm
@Witti Maybe. Though if you look at the painting (Oblivion) on the first panel on the next page it's all in black and white and there is no color at all... I think what color their is on the previous page is just a stylistic blending of her memories - her clients and experiences - into the painting, each represented as different swatches in a montage that blend into the reality that is a colorless painting. Cool stuff going on in that painting. @Kuu No, the brown one is her first client. Clam shell head doesn't appear on this page. It's her first lover, her first steady boyfriend, her first client, and her first... rat. I don't think sleeping with clam shell head was really a decision that she made, so she can't feel much toward that encounter. It was an accident that lead into a decision, but the mistake she made that night was drinking too much. So he's not a significant event like the others are.

18 .	by: kuu	July 7, 2016, 1:53 pm
the brown one is not the friend?

17 .	by: Vulli	July 7, 2016, 8:42 am
Oooh go back to page 36... brown weasel is definitely her first client

16 .	by: Anna	July 7, 2016, 8:14 am
There's so much going on here. The sort of put-off expressions of everyone she's with in the mirror, how the silhouettes (of everyone she's been with I assume) keep crowding the background more and more as the black parts of the mirror sort of infect the image. I was wondering why the brown weasel in the third panel was significant but he was her first client. I didn't get at first that the mark on the canvas at the bottom was her own shadow, which seems to be haunting her now, and is purple until she backs off from painting. It's interesting that she appears to see herself as society sees her in the mirror - and not as her true, inner self, which she frustratingly can't express to other people... even us readers, because we just see her as gray, and most of her paintings as gray.

15 .	by:	July 7, 2016, 8:00 am
Man, it really makes Greenie's line of "If your body's desire got you this far, doesn't that make this what you desire?" that much more messed up. This isn't what she desired, this is what she felt she had to do because nobody appreciated her art, who she truly is. And in the process she lost herself.

14 .	by: kuu	July 7, 2016, 5:03 am
Zack said her pelt color is going to be important later

13 .	by: Hemlock	July 7, 2016, 4:49 am
And the different aspects; playful but distant, dutiful, seduction, and violence.

12 .	by: Hemlock	July 7, 2016, 4:46 am
So she's looking back on the roles she's played through the relationships she's had, but which one's really her?

11 .	by: Witticaster	July 7, 2016, 4:12 am
@Furrama, I bet her white fur is significant, yeah. She lost her color that winter and never got it back. And on page 39 panel 11, you can see color in the work she's painting - I think all her paintings are actually colored, but we just can't see it, the same way we can't see her real self's color.

10 .	by: North	July 7, 2016, 3:39 am
All this lends a new feeling to all that talk about "capture" on page 22, huh?

9 .	by: Furrama	July 7, 2016, 2:27 am
Syconium was colored, it was green with some pink touches. I forgot. Still, all of the others since have been b/w. After that public rejection she really did lose all of her color.

8 .	by: Furrama	July 7, 2016, 2:23 am
@Witti Ah, do you think that her being white/blank on her outside might be significant as well? Perhaps she will burst into an array of colors by the end of this, inside and out. Like the bird she was admiring. (Heck, this is the first painting she's done in color, all the others have been in black and white.) A work of art unto herself.

7 .	by:	July 7, 2016, 2:07 am
So... Is it an established theory that XX bit off Greenie's genitals?

6 .	by: Witticaster	July 7, 2016, 1:04 am
Oh... I'm so sad now, reading this page. This is... the person she became in order to be accepted and valued by others. 'Something nice'. And now that person is more real than she is. That stain marring her lovely canvas is what happened when she tried to express her own inner passions instead of conforming to society's expectations. Page 5 makes more sense in this context, the 'graying out'... stifling and molding her body, clothing, and mannerisms to fit in with her surroundings.

5 .	by: Nobody	July 7, 2016, 12:48 am
yeah, first dude was definitely not her current boyfriend. he had brown fur and no ear tufts. also like a generally different face. honestly? she may have met him being a client herself. it's been stated he used to be submissive and she was dating him for the "different experience"; it's possible they got together because he encouraged her rough tendencies.

4 .	by: Tenka	July 7, 2016, 12:42 am
Oh, that IS what he meant by predation! I almost forgot, back then I was hoping. Also it feels very sweet and reassuring to me to see Fig standing with Green again and looking pretty sure of herself, them each seeming like the selves that are familiar to one another. Before now I was concerned about them drifting apart with their very different roles and, I think, living quarters from each other.

3 .	by: tayr	July 7, 2016, 12:31 am
I really like how the mirror is drawn. Captures the mood so perfectly.

2 .	by:	July 7, 2016, 12:28 am
...Streak and the model that seduced her were not the same person? How did she come to know Streak?

1 .	by: Furrama	July 7, 2016, 12:09 am
She's ready. So, Greenie is green even in the fur? Or is there going to be a reveal for him later and you don't want to ruin it? It's a little weird that everyone else in the mirror is their actual fur colors and he's not. (Also, dude, there's a lot going on to dissect here. But I'm also transfixed at her first's glasses pattern.)