Syconium
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February 8th, 2018






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49 . by: August 2, 2021, 1:19 am

I forgot how much I dislike this guy
48 . by: Botany February 20, 2018, 11:19 pm

God dammit, another correction: he does not have power, now. Power Has Him.

...For fuck's sake, why am I so prone to god damned freudian slips?
47 . by: Botany February 15, 2018, 10:53 pm

Correction: Have their own bodies used against themselves.

And, to elaborate on what I ended with.

I believe there could be nothing else more fitting and good, then for Fig to defeat Streaks without Power, as he and essentially understands Power.

I have have some things I tell myself, if they could make sense in this context,

That cowardly are the strong, and brave are the weak. That courage to withstand and overcome.

To let the waves dash themselves against the rocks, only to have the waves come and go, and those same rocks to remain.

Fig... Let the waves dash themselves against you. Let them come and falter.
46 . by: Botany February 15, 2018, 10:42 pm

And in that bid to reconcile, and to overcome, all that he was made to be, he has only become the very continuation.

Rest assured that he has power, now. When Power Has Him.

He has become ensnared in that horrible, godless trap of Might Making Right. Of Karma and what came around having to come back to undo itself.

That sheer stupidity, of believing in repetition solving itself if done for the right reasons. To repeating sin with the excuse that it's only happening to those that deserve it, as though anyone could ever deserve what happened to him. As though the very former lover he never wanted this to happen to could deserve it in her betrayal.


As if, if he can just make johns suffer along with prostitutes like he used to be, then he could rectify all that happened to him.

10 & 11 is right. He wants to ensnare customers into becoming sex workers. To make them suffer as he had and get a taste of what it's like to take it in the ass and mouth as he did. Have their own bodies used against him.

And Papeipou, right again. His understanding of art is like a dictator that only knows the power of art to manipulate.

Downhill, the Rationale, if anything, are going to turn a blind eye to this because again, they are a product of a victorian era way of thinking. Sex is bad. Sex consumes resources. Makes unproductive the society they are the stewards of. They were as much responsible for this brothel, and brothels like it, as Streaks deceased pimp Fig Trees was. They don't just want the prostitutes away from society, but the people that hire their services. If streaks is successful in this, the greater mass of society could very well just see this like the self-imposed hell that sinners brought upon themselves. So, if anything, instead of getting back at "Society" for what it did to Streaks, he will be doing Society a service.



...


...Streaks you god damned fool.

This... This is why I want so much for Fig to defeat Streaks with a defusion and deflection. To not overpower him, but to be the teacher she deserves to be and make him see just how much, with his own anniversary gift, how he has become the very fault in society that's made him into this ghoul and shell of himself.
45 . by: Kaidona February 12, 2018, 7:52 pm

wow, maybe green bean should have a look in xx's mirror. i'm curious what he'd see

URL : http://kaidona.deviantart.com
44 . by: February 12, 2018, 9:43 am

Acai, you're my bitch now-- is what I want him to say. But... it isn't fun knowing that he doesn't have a little green peen to poke him with lolll.
43 . by: February 12, 2018, 12:44 am

FURRAM-- i mean, uh...#35, NO...!! now im gonna be hearing "Jekyll Jekyll Hyde, Jekyll Hyde Hyde Jekyll!" in my head for at least a wEEK...

i've actually been wanting to do a syconium amv for a while...but i haven't really solidified any of it, beyond the song i had in mind. funny enough, Confrontation is an unrelated song i've wanted to try to animate something to for a while too. long story short, consider at least one Syconium Confrontation animatic in the works, LOL
42 . by: Mutt February 11, 2018, 1:56 am

I like how Green's eyes are more defined than usual in the last panel. He scary.
41 . by: February 10, 2018, 4:44 pm

i love the visual symbolism of greenie becoming everything he hated when he was a sex worker (his boss).
40 . by: February 10, 2018, 11:46 am

@seven, my thought was that Green just put Acai a lot closer to Sherry. He may not be there to deflect Acai's shock again if he and Sherry get into another heated situation.
39 . by: Taj February 10, 2018, 10:44 am

When I first read the Jekyl and Hyde comment I immediately thought of the pony video because I am a huge nerd. Im glad I'm not the only one.

Also don't tempt me into making a Fig/XX animatic abhh
38 . by: Teenage Mutant Sarpah February 10, 2018, 2:25 am

Uh...Yeah...I meant it should be a Fig/XX song
37 . by: StillTotesMcGrotesNotFurrama February 10, 2018, 12:46 am

What haven't the ponies been set to?

Sounds more like a Fig/XX sort of song to me. Not enough turning green. ;)
36 . by: Teenage Mutant Sarpah February 9, 2018, 11:32 pm

No I meant this

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gGQ_hnx3Cc
35 . by: TotallyNotFurramaAgainNope February 9, 2018, 11:08 pm

@33 Other people know how to use and refresh the alembic. There has been mention of maintenance workers that come in and refresh the nodes regularly. Açaí just shows up to help out when they're not available since he made the system.

@Teenage Mutant Sarpah (This what you had in mind? Mwahahaha....)

URL : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAtD5PcsTck
34 . by: Teenage Mutant Sarpah February 9, 2018, 10:02 pm

With all due respect Furrama if we're gonna have musical allusions Screw Phantom! Someone create an AMV with XX/Fig Singing Jekyll and Hyde's Confrontation

(You know...If it hasn't been made already)

All that you are is a face in the mirror! I close my eyes and you disappear

I'm what you face when you look in the mirror! Long as you live I will still be here!
33 . by: February 9, 2018, 8:26 pm

Isn't acai the only one who can refresh the nodes? He could use that as leverage, if only he was bolder
32 . by: Kanya February 9, 2018, 6:57 pm

THANK YOU FURRAMA
31 . by: Seven February 9, 2018, 6:55 pm

Well Greenie might have made a tactical error, putting Acai in the ladies' wing, closer to Fig.
30 . by: Furrama February 9, 2018, 6:49 pm

Well, yeah, the beastliest. Oh, and one last thing before I go because I've posted way too much on this page and I... gotta:

THE PHAAAAAAAAANTOM OF THE OPERA IS THEEEEEEERE...INSIDE MY MIND
29 . by: February 9, 2018, 6:43 pm

As thoughtful as the other comments are one here, I'm afraid all I have to contribute is that Greenie is a beast.
28 . by: Furrama February 9, 2018, 6:37 pm

SV was looking for the origin of Malice. He did want to help people, but for selfish reasons. He does change course by the end of both comics though and starts moving on behalf of other people. In the apostrophe version he uh...

*spoilers*

figures out a way to obliterate Malice within the self. Just rips it right out and throws it away without harming/killing the "host".

*end spoilers*

Rule and Polarizing denied personhood to foreigners/minorities, so even if they had noble ambitions I'm still slapping a villain label on them because it's 2018 and I'm not defending that crud. Especially after reading the addendum good lord.

Venom 8... after rereading it yesterday I don't think they were ever evil or bad, just... misguided. Lycosa's a construct that they made right? There wasn't ever a real egg sack that they physically stole from her so... they didn't do anything? I guess a future was at stake but they indirectly made the answer so... idk, that was a weird one.

(E)XY has more going on than Mwahaha They Hurt Me And Now They Must Suffer, though he does try to manipulate Açaí with that idea. I think he thinks he's... like, he's riding the wasp. Instead of letting it destroy him he's wielding it, moving with it, letting himself become its priest/avatar. He sees himself as a part of Fig's masterpiece so... maybe he maybe thinks he's helping her? In a twisted way?

He's not "OF COURSE" M. Bison, though he kinda is? He's a weird little duck. More going on than I initially thought.
27 . by: Teenage Mutant Sarpah February 9, 2018, 6:03 pm

Dernit! I keep writing 'know' when I mean 'No'
26 . by: Teenage Mutant Sarpah February 9, 2018, 6:01 pm

With this panel it seems clear to me XY is becoming the most Classic 'Evil' Villain we've had yet Rule and Polarizing and Venom 8 were at the very least genuinely seeking to do good for society SV...I still struggle to wrap my mind around Secretary's concept and I'll leave the Invaders from Solar System Out as I'm strictly talking about Earth Animal Villains...XY seems to have become what we typically think of as 'Evil' know genuine Ernest attempts at seeking good just bitterness, resentment and 'I'm seeking to ruin everyone else's life because my own life sucks'
25 . by: February 9, 2018, 3:35 pm

Don't animals with halo-brains live longer? Or am I remembering wrong?
24 . by: Furrama February 9, 2018, 1:45 pm

He wants more than the patrons.

He's threatening the entirety of society. Complete control.
23 . by: February 9, 2018, 12:58 pm

I don't think Fig and Greenie are meant to be seen as "middle-aged". Greenie maybe is a little past prime, assuming his prime years were in the brothel, but Fig is probably younger than him. I think she's a human-30-something at the most.
22 . by: Dani February 9, 2018, 12:17 pm

Ugh, more than ever, I want these characters to get out of the Brothel! Physically first. Then they can work on the mental.

Didn't realize Fig was an older lady now! Interesting. I always imagined her as youthful. Her looks fooled me!
21 . by: camila February 9, 2018, 7:02 am

welp, now is the perfect time for figx to go through that jedi training...
20 . by: Juna February 9, 2018, 4:45 am

Oh, I was just flipping through the last few updates, and the transition from the previous one to today's is pretty solid. While XX is contemplating her potential in front of her (brothel self's) self-portrait, XY is going to the very root of the labyrinth to fully realize its potential.
19 . by: Juna February 9, 2018, 4:10 am

Yea, instead of articulating an idea into a style, Greenie drew on the sheer intensity of his spite to reclaim, I suppose, the shocking alembic. He doesn't have the knowhow to whittle his thesis into a new alembic, but he'll be damned if he doesn't get it somehow. The use of force, of whatever kind, seems to be the closest to an art he does have. He's trying to use it trap Society in his domain, just like he tried to exert influence over others through Fig's sex appeal.

I'm reminded of Scarface's observation in page 86: "You need [Fig]... And you're so sure she needs you back." If mind-Fig's existence belies existential fear, then Greenie must fear disgrace, being at the mercy of others. So that's why he's trying to commandeer the same force that threatened to trap him, to further entrap others. It's very... vengeful.

It also explains his past line to Acai about, "what if it didn't need to be this way". He wasn't just trying to buy his favor, but appealing to Acai's pain of having been degraded.
18 . by: Downhill February 9, 2018, 3:26 am

Ah, when I first saw Acai I thought XX was going to visit him to talk about Art. It'd be good for her to talk it out and get another perspective.

Assuming Green is going to try to run their clients into debt like what happened to Acai... the rationale is gonna crack down HARD if they find this.
17 . by: Mutt February 9, 2018, 2:12 am

That makes sense! I forgot he never learned real Art.
16 . by: Papeipou February 9, 2018, 2:04 am

He’s not an artist in any sense of the word. What he made is an ugly mutation of it. He can control it about as well as we’ve seen him control anything else- he’s all force and no finesse. He just gave XX her reason to learn Art.
15 . by: Mutt February 9, 2018, 1:46 am

Also I didn't think of it until just now but that's a pretty low blow to make Acai live in Cherry's room, after everything that's happened so far.
14 . by: Mutt February 9, 2018, 1:42 am

...Mind control nodes?

These last dozen or so pages have left me utterly speechless. It's difficult to speculate all the details of the story as they happen, but it's been nothing less of an engaging read.

Clever, never noticed that Green had his right side hidden this whole time. It's sad to see him climb so high yet fall so far at once.

I also thought that at this point in time, he would be so familiar with the nodes that he'd manage to modify them himself, as opposed to asking Acai's help. I mean, he did use them to stun RG and they react when he uses his lightning. I guess it's because it's not initially his alembic. He can play around with it but can't develop it into anything too far beyond its original use.
13 . by: February 9, 2018, 1:11 am

Re: lifespans: early in this arc we see that animals clearly have some kind of medical practice, which might explain their extended age. Health care helps!
12 . by: February 9, 2018, 1:05 am

"Mess with me again and I'll stuff you in a janitor alcove somewhere and claim this place for myself."
- XY, page 161

Welp.
11 . by: February 9, 2018, 1:03 am

I'm with Furrama here. My immediate thought is that Green wants to trap customers here - the same way Acai was trapped. He didn't walk in with any intention to work at Fig Trees, but he has yet to leave.
10 . by: Furrama February 9, 2018, 12:49 am

What he wants to do is worse than what y'all are imagining.

Really mull over the lines, "I need you to do to everyone what they did to you,"

and

"I want the labyrinth to be inside of people. I want this to be their new home. Because that's what it really is."

His ambitions extend beyond the confines of the brothel's current inhabitants and those who might try to leave it. They're already affected. He wants more then them.
9 . by: February 9, 2018, 12:26 am

Something wicked this way comes. But really, someone please string him up by his neck.
8 . by: February 9, 2018, 12:24 am

iirc Word of God has mentioned that NofNA animals live longer than their real-life counterparts. She still has spent way too much time stuck in this awful place though.
7 . by: February 9, 2018, 12:20 am

Now he's as ugly on the outside as he is on the inside. Fitting.

@4 he probably means he wants to take away all hope from those who consider trying to find life outside the brothel. Acai once said he has no hope. Make them feel as if this is all they'll ever be, and such.
6 . by: Furrama February 8, 2018, 11:51 pm

@5 She would have been almost one during her first winter, where she left home and got shipped off to art school. When she arrived at the brothel Zack on page 60 said it had probably been about 2 years since she had seen the place. So she was at least 3 years old upon entering the brothel.

She has had two winters here, she was probably born in the late winter/early spring, which would put her at about 5 right now. Google says stoats live from 4-6 years in the wild, so she's probably middle aged to old, BUT I think her "condition" effects her body, so she probably doesn't look it.
5 . by: February 8, 2018, 11:43 pm

How old is Fig by now?
4 . by: February 8, 2018, 11:23 pm

Oh wow, that last panel certainly hit hard. For sure fitting that he now has the same scars as boss rat.

I wonder what he's going to make Acai do with the nodes? I haven't the faintest idea what he has in mind, but it obviously won't be pretty whatever it is. And make Fig's struggle to escape her metaphorical and literal labyrinth even harder.
3 . by: Furrama February 8, 2018, 10:53 pm

Battery was the one who did that to him. He took a full hit.

Also! Winter is over!
2 . by: Seven February 8, 2018, 10:51 pm

So he roasted the fur off of his face back when he zapped Battery?

Fitting, too, that he looks like old Boss Rat now.
1 . by: Furrama February 8, 2018, 10:49 pm

So that's why there was that minor art edit to obscure his face back there.

Fitting, he'll be right under the base of the root system.