just finished both volumes, absolutely amazing. your art makes me want to draw.
!!spoilers in this comment so don't read it until you're caught up!!
I like how Plover and Yago play off of each other, it is really interesting. Like how Plover is a human and wants* to be a monster, and Yago is a monster** that wants to be a human. Plover having a deep fear of authority figures and constantly being gravitated towards them as well as a deeply rooted inferiority complex because of them and how that makes her over-compensate with strength and anger, whereas Yago just wants to help people and see them improve. He's expected to toughen up, but actually he hates that "tough" side of himself and actively chooses to stay soft and kind. Comforting Plover even when she wouldn't comfort him back. I think her arc will be as Yago foresaw it, of joining the farm, his parents liking her. I think her sanity will improve and she'll soften up. I think when she's no longer backed into a corner and is given a safe spcae like that, she will improve. Which is to sau this isnt like her, it's how she's been conditioned to act. Poor Yago deserves better lol he's really giving her everything she has. She's so deeply brainwashed from abuse, she internalizes it. Unlike Yago who sees it as it is and wants to leave. He has the confidence to know when something external is bad, whereas Yago deeply internalizes it and convinces herself to work harder. They start off with her in survival mode and he just wants to live a happy life, but after meeting her they're both in fight or flight. It's interesting also how she views herself as weak and how she froze up and was unable to fight, a large part was her body freezing as a natural reaction but another part was she's been conditioned to not fight back from her crew, learned helplessness. Yago is the only one who can help her. The plot would be totally over without him. Her mentality of you either being "out" or "in" the crew is a really realistic depiction of a soldier. "One of us" or an outsider. Accepting someone from the outside's help while still considering herself as part of the crew, still mentally in the process of leaving them, is nearly impossible for her. Getting her the help that she needs is like pulling teeth. Her nervous system is totally shot. She doesn't allow herself to feel anything, to the point she can't label her feelings, and they all come pouring out in a scary way. She doesn't feel alive. Being frozen in terror on the verge of death is the only time she feels something. Otherwise she shuts down completely. Realllyyyy realistic soldier depiction. I don't know anything personal about the creator, I only have seen your art, I don't know what you've gone through or what research you've done. But this feels really well researched! Reminds me of my fave book "the body keeps the score" by DR Van der kolk. Psychology book about trauma and therapy. Very heavy book and a large part of it deals with war PTSD.
And very quickly, regarding Plover, from the DSM-V for PTSD:
- Persistent negative emotional state (e.g., anger, shame).
- Irritable behavior and angry outbursts (with little or no provocation), typically expressed as verbal or physical aggression toward people or objects.
- Hypervigilance.
- Exaggerated startle response
- Persistent and exaggerated negative beliefs or expectations about oneself, others, or the world (e.g., “I am bad,” “No one can be trusted,” “The world is completely dangerous,” “My whole nervous system is permanently ruined”).
- Feelings of detachment or estrangement from others.
Thank you for making this!
Also bit random, but do the names Plover and Yago symbolize anything?
* (Conditioned to want, she's in an animalistic environment that expects her to toughen up and not show weakness. Poor thing has PTSD)
** (He is dual monster human. He hates that side of himself and only happens when it's forced out. Unlike Plover who is completely human and that animal side is always detached from her, either as a bird panel overlayed on her, or as a bird next to her. This is a creative liberty, she does not literally transform like Yago does.)