Nature of Nature's Art: Difference between revisions

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Alternative explanation in simpler English: in the future of an alternate universe, animals have evolved human-level intelligence, and are trying to develop a society comparable to that of humans. Just like humans, people have different opinions about what the best way to do this might be. Naturally this can result in fighting -- both figurative and literal.

 

 

* '''10%+''': It is the year 2[[108]]. Meander, a maned wolf and college student, develops a metanoia (an innovative martial arts style) which allows him to focus his attention on dozens of things at once -- [[Deadly Upgrade|but this turns out to be damaging to his mind]]. Meanwhile, two teachers at the same college have been working on a solution to an economic crisis: [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|turn wild coyotes into mindless slaves]]. When Meander finds out, he is outraged. Cue the epic battle.

* '''Secretary''': SV is an eccentric degu who basically [[I Just Want to Be Special|wants to be famous]] - but in animal society, that requires inventing something which can be used to help it progress. His idea? Years ago, his tooth stopped growing after he was bitten by his older brother; he decides to try harnessing the power which stops it from growing. This leads him to enroll in the college, become markscraft to a jerboa called XZ, fight to keep his mind outside of convention, go into self-imposed exile, and discover a terrifying power. But what is its secret? What is malice, and what causes it?

In addition, there is a print version of ''10%+'' which comes in six volumes, along with a seventh called ''[[All There in the Manual|The 10%+ Addendum]]''. (Unfortunately only a small number of copies were printed and they're all sold out.) ''Secretary'' was also made into a print version, in four volumes, though it is now also out of print. There's also a a print version of ''Lycosa'''s prologue titled (we promise you) ''Untitled'', which comes with a car-themed calendar. ''Wild Style'' is expected to become a print version.

 

 

 

* [[Action Girl]]: Quintet and Fiat in ''10%+''; XZ/Nutsedge in ''Secretary''; lots of spiders in ''Lycosa''... judging from the setting, there'd also be countless others.

* [[All There in the Manual]]: The website's "about" section has a glossary. There's also the rare print-only ''The 10%+ Addendum'' which contains two epilogues (only one of which is canon) and analyses of the different fighting styles. Presumably there'll be one for ''Secretary'' as well.

* [[A Dog Named "Dog"]]: In a variant, every named spider character in ''Lycosa'' goes by their species' scientific name. {{spoiler|It also takes advantage of how one particular species of spider is known by multiple scientific names: "'''''Lycosa''''' ''gulosa''" and "'''''Gladicosa''''' ''gulosa''"}}.

* [[Everythings Better With Bunnies]]: Subverted in ''10%+''. The rabbits are gangsters.

* [[Fate Worse Than Death]]: Removing an animal's halo brain destroys its personality and memories, leaving it as an utterly base animal. {{spoiler|Poor Meander.}}

* [[Final Speech]]: Every single antagonist in ''Lycosa''.

* [[Furry Denial]]: In-universe and in the supplementary material, "man" and "woman" refer not to humans, but to sentient animals that are male or female. It can be a bit jarring to hear one animal call another animal a man. This practice continues in ''Solar System'', so presumably it's part of the [[Translation Convention]].

* [[Future Imperfect]]: Compare ''Solar System'''s in-story retelling of ''10%+'' to what actually happened. You'll find a few differences...

* [[Giant Spider]]: ''Lycosa'' usually averts this (even featuring a ''really tiny'' one), though it still features ''Theraphosa blondi'', the very aptly-named Goliath Birdeater. It ''dwarfs'' the titular wolf spider.

* [[Grey and Grey Morality]]: One of the comic's draws, although this isn't quite as obvious in ''10%+''.

* [[Killer Rabbit]]: Let's just say that not all of the comic's ass-kickers are animals you'd expect to be able to kick ass. In particular, a number of characters in ''Secretary'' fit, since it's mostly about rodents.

* [[Lighter and Softer]]: ''Wild Style''.

* [[Longest Prologue Ever]]: ''Solar System'' currently holds the record for the longest one in the comic, taking over 60 pages to get to the title. This is going to be a lengthy story-arc...

* [[Magitek]]: Among other things, in ''Solar System'', factures have been used to allow people to talk directly to their computers. And vice versa.

* [[Mundane Utility]]: Possible inversion; ''very few'' styles are used exclusively for combat. Many are/were developed for non-combat use and just happened to be useable ''in'' combat (for example, Meander's metanoia). In fact, there are actually styles which are ''not'' supposed to be used to attack someone!

* [[Mythology Gag]]: A few jokes in ''Wild Style''. SV's/{{spoiler|Malice's}} over dramatic speech giving is parodied in the second strip, and {{spoiler|the halo brain-dead}} Meander is described as the "perfect man" by a female maned wolf in another.

* [[Painting the Fourth Wall]]: One page of ''Secretary'' is a blank webpage, presumably to convey loss of consciousness. If that wasn't enough, towards the end, the webpages change background colour to go along with the comic doing the same. ''Lycosa'' goes even further; aside from an above-mentioned [[Art Shift]], you have to mouse over the speech bubbles in order to read them.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: An example for a character rather than a story: {{spoiler|"[...]the origin of malice will be your own ''damn'' self."}}

* [[Sliding Scale of Anthropomorphism]]: [[Partially-Civilized Animal|Partially Civilized Animals]] in ''Secretary'' and ''Lycosa''. [[Civilized Animal|Civilized Animals]] in ''10%'' and ''Solar System''. In all cases, they retain their animal anatomy.

* [[Something Completely Different]]: ''Wild Style'' - gag-a-day strips after three lengthy story-arcs.

* {{spoiler|[[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]]: The antagonists of ''Solar System'' can destroy planets and recreate them with little problem.}}

* [[Theme Naming]]:

** The various moves of the styles are often (but not always) named like this. Some examples: {{spoiler|''both'' versions of SV's malice style and Lycosa's factures.}}

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Possibly SV; ''definitely'' 10%'s Rule and Polarizing and Lycosa's Gulosa.

* [[What Did You Expect When You Named It?]]: [[Defied Trope]] in ''Solar System'' when deciding what to name a new space shuttle.

'''Strelka:''' Ah... the Challenger blew up. }}

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Apparently the comic and setting is an excuse for Braun to create fighting styles with ridiculously over-the-top names, and that's not even getting started on the EPIC KUNG FU SPIDERS. Not that readers are complaining too much.

 

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[[Category:Fantasy Webcomics]]