Rambles

[rainwaterspark]

Totally random, in no particular order, just stuff I've wanted to babble about for a while:

- April 1st art reveal for Goliath: LOL. I've currently sided with the "photoshopped image" camp, but the picture/mashup is still hilarious, especially Volger's facepalm and Alek's epic expression. (But also ominous--what's up with the bride holding a knife??)

- Pet peeve: A random person on the internet has stated several times: "Not to brag, but I'm talented in writing." And I'm thinking, doesn't the fact that you even said this multiple times on the internet make it Stealth Bragging?

- The Phoenix Requiem is finished (actually, it's been finished for a little while now), but I hadn't gotten around to writing my impressions of it. There are MAJOR SPOILERS under the cut--you have been warned.

I've been following The Phoenix Requiem since it was about halfway done, and I honestly have to say that the ending disappointed me. It was a kind of bittersweet ending, in which everyone's alive but the main couple can't be together, and I still don't know why it ended that way. My feeling is that the story was building up to a character death, but the author didn't want a character death, perhaps because of backlash when that happened in Inverloch.

There are a number of thematic threads left unresolved: What about the religious conflicts (i.e. between the Misharan God and the spirits--has the Misharan God been ruled out as a false deity)? What about the apparent psychopomp STD that Jonas and Anya now have (and that Anya will presumably pass on to other people if she gets married/has children)? In the story, the spirits reveal that there is no afterlife; so what does that mean in terms of religious faith and the meaning of life? What exactly is the author trying to say about the need to guide souls to the afterlife? Where did the spirits come from, and how come they can consume dead souls in order to gain power? What is the point of this "ocean" of soul-energy that takes the place of the afterlife--is it like FFVII's Lifestream, is it vital for the survival of the world? If not, even if there is a moral objection to the Spirits leeching off of this energy pool, what is the pragmatic reason?

Some of my questions might have been answered and I simply have to reread the comic (particularly the details about the soul-ocean and the Spirits), but some of them I know for a fact have been left hanging. Most egregious of all is the thematic disorganization--I keep waiting and waiting to find out what the "point" of the story is, what it was trying to say about life and death, but I just couldn't figure it out from the ending.

It's particularly disappointing as the author, Sarah Ellerton, created a very moving and powerful story in her first webcomic, Inverloch, which is all about racism and intolerance and what it takes to overcome prejudice.

My overall summary: The Phoenix Requiem has gorgeous art, lively dialogue, and what I think is a very likable romance (a rare example of my favorite kind--one with a lot of witty banter and equality between the romantic partners). However, its inability to tie up its thematic threads and answer That Question ("So what?") makes its ending feel ultimately hollow.

Comments

[chronochromatic.livejournal.com]

Is The Phoenix Requiem worth reading overall? I've toyed with the idea of starting it, but I didn't feel like going on an archive binge (for some reason, I tend towards doing this only with finished stories). But I really loved her art from this other comic I read, so I might get around to it in the summer. What do you think?


Also, not to brag, but I'm talented in bragging.

[yoinokaku.livejournal.com]

If you have time, I think The Phoenix Requiem is worth it for the pretty art and interesting characters. I think Inverloch has a better ending/overall story, though; as I mentioned, I was disappointed by The Phoenix Requiem's ending.

Hahahaha, lol. XD