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Primrose Van der Peer, an operatic contralto, has only played men onstage. Her debut as a leading lady should feel monumental, an invitation to the femininity she's always been denied, but instead the role seems to haunt her, even when she's not performing. 

Cover + 32 pgs (grayscale), traditional inks, tones/lettering in CLIP studio

Story and Art by Val Wise

(CW: Sexual content, violence, body horror, anti-fat dialogue, implied disordered eating, menstruation. For mature readers)

StatusReleased
CategoryComic
Rating
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
(94 total ratings)
AuthorVal Wise
TagsBlack and White, Comics, Furry, Period Piece
Average sessionA few seconds
LanguagesEnglish

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Comments

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The panel with her looking in the mirror… wow that was so hauntingly beautiful in a way that I won’t be able to sleep at night anymore. This was beautiful

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this comic is absolutely fantastic but it also kicked me right in the feelings. Its HEAVY

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really so beautiful and oppressively detailed!

bruh....

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I feel seen tonight after reading this, in a painfully accurate way.
As a person who has never been able to fit the mold of expectations for my gender, body or presentation, this amazing work hit very close to home for me.

So terribly familiar is that compromising that goes with chasing success, acceptance, favor, affection. You've captured this experience so faithfully, with such frugality of words and contrasted with so much lavish imagery that it nearly took my breath away.

Thank you for everything you put into this; you've given so many like myself a voice through this story. It's easily one of the most potent and personal comics I've ever read.

(I've tried to be careful with my words so as not to give all of it away, but if you're in the comments because you're still making up your mind whether to read this...it's only 32 pages and worth every minute of your time.)

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Was waiting for the perfect moment to sit down and read this, and itchio creator day seemed like the perfect time. Beautiful imagery and style fills so much into just 32 pages; it's hard to find the right words beyond saying it's truly a very lovely and expressive work of art. I knew going in that as a trans man this was going to hit close to home, but I'm always happy to feel reached by works like these, even in a bittersweet manner.  I can't say I know exactly how personal this piece was, but I can tell it was personal to no small degree, so I want to use my comment to say that I hope you never stop making pieces that are significant and important to you. There are, again, no words for how special stories like these are, to me personally of course, but to so many people in general, and I hope making them is a positive or at least cathartic experience for you, too. I hope you have a lovely day, night, whenever, and thank you for this one. :,]

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I'm quietly shaking after reading this. I'm a fat transwoman, who transitioned at 42 and I struggle every moment with being a 'good enough woman', even more so when I drag being fat into it. 

Despite looking in the opposite direction to Primrose...the view is the same. Looking vainly towards this far off thing called 'Woman' that we can't ever reach. I want to be that woman, I want to feel that I'm normal and beautiful and I'm failing if I don't, while Primose thinks she should be that woman, as is expected of her, as she is seen

You made Primrose into such a beautiful person it was like a transcendence of this awful spectre of gender expectations, just for a moment. 

Thank you for bringing Primrose's story to life. Please hold Primrose in your heart with love for the rest of time, for all of us. 

Pretty. Staggers.

(+3)

god this is such a beautiful comic ........ the facial expressions are simple yet compliment the complexity of the food, clothes + backgrounds, and the panel design is just. so pretty. i wish i could touch it lol !!!!! definitely coming back to this comic + reading it thru again to get the story fully. 

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stunning! primrose's body is drawn with such care and expertise - all of the strokes are beautiful and so smooth, a total treat to the eyes. it's amazingly done and despite not being in the same vein of gender-experience as primrose, i feel that it is so easy to connect with her humanity and understand her struggles through the visuals alone. 

it leaves me wanting more, and to see her find herself and be happy - but of course, that's not always how real life turns out.

thank you for your hard work!

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I really like this comic. I can't say everything I want to say, but I will say, I was kind of serious about singing when I was younger. I wanted very badly to play a breeches role ever since someone told me it was a thing. My voice coach wouldn't let me because I'm a coloratura soprano. My voice is too high. 

I understand it is not entirely the same situation as your comic, but reading it still brought out some memories and I did tear up a little. It's so strange how much of opera (and singing professionally in-general) is controlled by what other people expect to see at your show, when the sound comes out of your own mouth.  Anyway, thank you for making this comic and thank you for letting me read it.

absolutely stunning!!!!!!!! the art and page flow is enrapturing

I liked this quite the bit, I'm so glad I picked this up!

(+2)

Incredible comic! The illustrations are gorgeous and the characters are incredibly intriguing and charming. So much characterization and things that hook you in in such few pages. Definetely recommend! Had a lot of fun reading it. 

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got chills  from reading this , read it twice now , truly amazing work

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this is an amazing read, i saw your work on tumblr and had to buy a copy. from the lines to the panels to the composition, both macro and micro just wow. amzing.

(+3)

This is beautiful and powerful. I would definitely buy a whole graphic novel, because the characters and world left me wanting more, but this in its own is powerful and complete enough. The art is beautiful, the layouts and visuals stunning, the dialogue on point. Fantastic!

(+2)

the illustrations in the comic itself are enough reason to buy this, but the way you handle dysphoria and fatness and everything makes me so happy. this comic hit hard for me as a fat trans man and i had to go back and read it multiple times just to take it all in. really beautiful portrayal 

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beautiful artwork and flow. i adore your art and cannot wait to see where you go! <333

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so so gorgeous from the art to the narrative. one of those comics where you have to stop and go back and savor the panels over + over. such a striking depiction of past (+ therefore present) (trans)masculinities

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this was absolutely gorgeous! just from the teaser pages i saw on tumblr had me hooked! its beautiful and gut wrenching from start to end

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this was absolutely stunning! the first few pages hooked me and the rest kept me utterly glued to the screen. read the whole thing through twice + definitely going to be revisiting it again in the future.

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I started following your twitter because of how much primrose's design spoke to me personally, so reading this comic was a joy. The stuff you do for fat people is virtuousic. Who knows if there'd ever be a print version, but I'd buy it.

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"starved, fed, and eaten all at once." My god, what a line. This entire story is so beautifully drawn and beautifully told.

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Oof, this was rough in the best way. Thanks for sharing!

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absolutely stunning!!! each page is a work of art, and the story is too. i feel so lucky to see it!

(+2)

god the way this is drawn and written is just beautiful, I could look at each page forever. and (spoilers) as a fat nonbinary person, Primrose's struggles with everyone's perception of her (including her own) really resonated with me. The complicated emotions, the anxiety and dread, it all felt sophisticated and real; stunning work :D

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I'm so glad you liked it <33 thank you for the comment!!