"Depiction of Pleasure" is a fever dream of visuals and a premise so fantastical, I am in awe at the levels of metaphor, symbolism, themes and interpretation that can be derived from the presentation of this story. There really is so much going on here, that it's super easy to get just lost in each individual scene, at both the mystery of what is happening as well as the mystery of exactly what kind of story this is. I like to think that I can follow a narrative, but this is a challenging read, as you really have to start to approach certain scenes with an abstract lens to grasp at what's happening. I suppose that might also be part of the point of this story, since I start to wonder if there's a meta-commentary happening as a reflection of the game jam itself.
Presentation wise, this is amazing artwork, even without the audio design, the way that the owl communicates via imagery and emotion, so it's displayed with colors and pictures, it's just crazy clever. All the character designs are great, and I really enjoy the trippy nature of the background art and how at the end of the story. Ending cut scene scene like the scroll painted with words as it burns up, it's just super cool.
That being said, dang is this story all over the place. The shifting points of view mean you have to reorient yourself on the fly to keep up with what's happening in the story. There's also several layers to this plot, and some end up being more satisfying than others. At the basic literal layer of this fantasy survival story, the characters are all fairly static and the arc that the main character has is so buried under layers of interpretation, that it leaves me puzzled as to what exactly happened with chameleon and his succumbing to the sand. Also, since it is a WIP, it does make me wonder if the other ending would clarify things.
It leads me to believe that this story might be taken on a more metaphoric level, where it might representing a commentary on purity culture versus degenerate culture? The idea that the sand is a substance that causes pleasure so addicting, but also results in the death of the person who takes it. One could easily make a connection to something like recreational drugs or in the wolf's case, a type of sexual fetish. Where indulging in it causes the user to go out in a blaze of glory, but if you abstain from it, you live in an abject world of misery and abstinence. But then you get the introduction of the owl, who uses the sand in a torch to communicate (and also present themselves as more feminine), so maybe there's an interpretation that use of the sand can be done safely through a simulated medium with the torch, since both the owl and wolf seem to overcome the dangers of using the sand with the torch? But then Cham, even though he does use the torch, doesn't seem to be able to have that same ability to overcome that part of the sand, but maybe it might be because he has a degradation and masochistic fetish and the sand hurting him just coincides with him hurting himself for pleasure. It's also interesting to contrast it with the lord, who seems to have aphantasia, and only thinks in words. Could this be representative of how some persons are just more naturally resistant to the addictive qualities of pleasure, and those are the ones that should be in leadership positions? I think I'm trying to read too much into it.
Then there's possibly a meta-interpretation with the owl being forced to create a painting within a month, which might coincide with the idea that this story is a metaphor for a game jam, with the whole, being forced to create a visual novel in a month. Could this also be a commentary on trying to create a story that isn't steeped in furry fetishes, when by the wolf's seemingly overpowering aura in the story, hints that it's inevitable? Not to mention the ability to force empathy upon another person using the sand-torch, seems to lead to a representation of using art to force empathy and others to feel a certain emotions, which is shown to be a problematic thing? I think I'm trying to read too much into it.
I think this story gets a bit too lost in it's own sauce and starts to rush towards a conclusion in the end once all the interesting premises are set up and played around with a little bit, but doesn't really know how to wrap up any of the questions it put out for itself, so it just burns it all to the ground and leaves the reader to ponder just what happened. But yeah, max points for presentation and creativity, I love all the bold character designs and the facial expressions. The story left me puzzled, which also leaves me wondering just how much it sticks to the theme of 'light in the dark', but I did enjoy the humor derived from the wolf really getting into his kink. I look forward to seeing how the finished product wraps everything up.