Author notes

Chapter 4 Page 06

Abt_Nihil

on June 3, 2009

*Thrones & Dominions is going to start on Monday. This is your chance to jump aboard!*

Page comment:

Okay, so that may not be an actual metaphor, what with metaphors usually being short. Nevermind.

I'd like to add a comment which has more to do with the previous page:

I realize the natural expectation for a reader would be that these two will at some point have sex. But I'm not sure sex would resolve anything. Even worse: For all we know, it might just be another disturbing scene.

Not too long ago, somebody stated the following in a critique of my other comic A.D 1997: "I like (Naomi’s) friend Jack, despite his severe over-reaction to seeing the girl of his dreams (I understand being shy, but Jack is soap-opera-level shy, and it begins to grate after a while)." Again, I can understand that the natural expectation would be for Jack to "get the girl", or - if not - that he would at least be rejected once and for all… that there would be progress, in any case. I think this natural expectation comes from the assumption that it’s a regular coming-of-age story. But if you know me, you’ll know that my comics are not about getting the girl, or about making progress, as much as they are about not getting the girl and dealing with it.

So, back to signifikat: If these two had sex, the danger may be for everyone to read the whole story as leading up to that point. But I'd like to stress that the current bickering between these two isn’t meant to be validated by some sort of sexual pay-off in the future (and I’m not saying whether they will or won’t have sex – that would be a spoiler).


REPLIES:

alejkhan: Thanks a lot! With two characters talking it's always the question whether I should draw talking heads or rather illustrate what they're talking about… I think in this case the latter lends itself, since we really do get into Sunhra's head in a way, as you pointed out. And I agree with your point about the get-together being the climax in most cases… but sometimes it's also interesting to see what comes after. Everything else would be too romantic a POV, I guess. Sometimes you have to deal with how (or whether) expectations are fulfilled, not just with the expectations themselves.

Scorpious: Right. Like any metaphor, the more things it applies to, the better :-)

JNP: You know, I think your perspective on this comic is pretty unique. It may have to do with your general stance being pretty unique in itself ;-) But I mean: I would never have expected to receive comments like yours. They are great interpretations of what's going on, they're consistent and everything, they're just unexpected, which usually is enlightening for me. But what I really doubt is that the protagonist's state of mind is in any way something he would like to keep. I don't feel like interpreting my own stuff too much, because I don't feel like forcing myself on readers; but I think what's clear is that the guy isn't exactly happy about all this. And it's not just the fact that his worldview is constantly challenged by other people. It's really hard for me tell, because - again - I couldn't have expected for you to support his position (whatever his position may actually be if spelled out). I kind of expected people to be able to empathize (like alejkhan), but not really to support it. But as I said, your interpretation is spot on, and I share your sentiments about him ending up being conflicted or impotent… and I also agree with what you're saying about those typical animé shows. I've never had sheer circumstance interfere with my (attempts at) relationships… that would have been just stupid :3
Oh yeah, one of these days you'll have to tell me what kind of "good reasons" this guy exactly has ;-)

Aghammer: Thank you very much! I think there's a sort of inherent logic to the relationship I'm building here… my fear is not so much that the story would grow stale after their having sex. Believe me, if they did it would make sense and the story would go on with the same kind of momentum as before. I just feel there are certain "default" expectations when we are confronted with relationship/romance stories, and I want to counteract those. And I obviously agree with both yours and JNP's statements about those endless-romance-for-the-sake-of-endless-romance type of series ;D

mmm bacon0: Thanks!

DAJB: Very true! Still, what JNP says in response to your comment may be even more true… the realism of the guy not getting the girl is outweighed by the unrealism of his not taking advantage of her ;-)

JNP: Yeah… you stole my response to DAJB there ;-) Atypical men and atypical women… those are the ones us auteur types prefer to make stories about.

Jabali: Thanks a lot!