welcome to the fest

This is why you can't trust sycophants, Nique. They praise you no matter what. You could go up there and totally suck. Wouldn't matter. Be grateful for praise, but don't buy into it. Listen to critics, but don't let them push you around.
Criticism can be harsh... but it's a necessary evil. A road to improvement. The fire in which the artist is tempered. Will you break when exposed to it? Like some cheap pig iron? Or will you emerge, stronger, like the true steel?

Nique's shadow seems to represent her worst traits. Vanity. Materialism. Pettiness. Nique has been playing the oppressed heroine activist for a long time (courtesy of Tat) but the shadow seems like a window into how imperfect she really is. I'm not sure what to make of it aside from: "Nique is a human being. She sucks sometimes. She's not a flawless paragon of justice."

The outmoded Campbell concept of the hero's journey easily falls prone to who knows what kind of critical interpretations and then some. The point did not originate in Campbell himself though, I find the mistake then is when we ignore the origin stories that really occurred. Chaotic behavior naturally occurred in the human race to extreme extents until the first major fairy tales and religious lore emerged hand in hand with civilization. Causality is irrelevant in a rather cyclical paradox in narrative as a portrayal of a given tale. I wouldn't exactly give in per se to our hectic existence, I often find a method to the madness will still happen.

-Russly

This sums it up nicely, ‘Nique originally stayed to be with Absinthe but overstayed as she subconsciously enjoyed the perks, benefits, and pampered lifestyle within the mansion. It was something she sought after in the past and deep down she still wants it. But her new feminist beliefs tell her that this is wrong; especially, if said creature comforts are provide by the Patriarchy (The Devil).

For those who weren’t around at the beginning of Sinfest, Monique was the Pimp Mama to Slick’s Pimp Daddy, two sides of same coin before Xanthe. She was Slick’s muse for his own poetry, the object of his desire and motivation. He was Monique’s validation that she was hot, desirable and had sway over men. Old ‘Nique was high maintenance, attention seeking, promiscuous and cock-teasing. She knew how to use her feminine wiles and good looks to literately set men on fire. Like Slick who had an eye for the ladies, ‘Nique had an eye for the men (and ladies) especially handsome men with deep pockets. (Which explains why her shadow self was squealing over the Devil.)

Then one day, ‘Nique wanted men to take her seriously. After upstaging the former Booth Babes, Blue and Fuchsia, men mistook her as a devil-girl which upset her and made her self-conscious. She wanted men to like her poetry and get its message rather to see her shake her ass on stage. She started to call out this issue on stage and got booed and tomatoed making her frustrated. Then, Slick unintentionally victim blamed her when she went to him for condolement and that was the nail in the coffin. The very hotness she flaunted that gave her empowerment was now problematic for her.

So, ‘Nique cuts her hair, wear less feminine clothes, and starts a healthy relationship with a devil-girl. She does what new wave feminism tells us ladies to do. She threw away the distractions (“weak ass femininity” and all that made her sexually desirable to men) so all that remains is what she wants respected which is her intellect, her creativity and not to be dismissed as just “Ass”. However, with all these changes the old ‘Nique is still there, just like Sleaze to Slick. Is it any wonder why her shadow self resembles her old look? Perhaps, Tat is setting up an arc like Squig and Slick, where ‘Nique will have to face her old demons. Or, maybe a conflict of staying true to her beliefs, not selling out but her time in the manor reveal how the Devil is manipulating the Woke agenda which may have shaken her beliefs allowing that shadow self to become more prominent.

I would welcome an arc where Nique faces the evils of toxic femininity.