Today's subject will be:
A compare of Remains and Remains Day II by Phoenix-06.

Quite simply, these pieces are the end of the world. Not just any end of the world, but the kind where extraterrestrials come to enslave us all. Sounds exciting! As bad as that seems, a view such as this would be an awesome sight to behold. If the world were to be enslaved, there probably wouldn't be much else to look forward to.

The first picture tells a story of great distress. A warm orange-red fills the piece and judging by the title, this war has been waged and long since been lost. Pockets of resistance still grasp for the brown dead vines of freedom they once knew. Doesn't help that they're three fourths in quick sand. As it stands out very well, you can see the aliens shooting blasts of blue plasma at the remaining defense. Some missile fire comes up from the ground. I can't tell which way the alien ships fly, but it sure looks like they can fire in all directions. However, we may have put up a good fight, considering the alien craft debris littering the city (what else would those scaly tubes poking through buildings be?). Maybe all is not lost yet!

Remains Day II, aliens move in. Not much setting up shop other then the structure standing in the center of the scape (another off to the left and right). What do you suppose those things do, hmm? I'd say they're the new homes for humans to be enslaved. Nothing is more dismal then this! Business no longer booms (or rather, it went boom). The rusted Earth Defense Force propaganda slouches in defeat as the rain clouds loom. We gave it our all and failed.

What I love about these pieces is how different they are despite being the same underlying. One has color, while the other is a cold gray nothing. The first is filled with motion and activity: explosions, raging fire, shooting firepower, black smoke rising. The second has no motion whatsoever. You can picture the films of haze and mist gradually attempting to take the city blocks from each other. Oddly, this scene doesn't even seem to be some evil alien overlord ruler hoping to gain profits; rather, just the way of nature. We would likely do the same to an alien race coming to seek friendship. What can be judged when it comes to aliens and human morality anyways?

If I had to go way out on a philosophical and metaphorical hunch, this series would make the perfect picture of our inevitable death on Earth. The approach to death, or dying, is a fight for life. Fire and expositions rage as we try to slow down the future. Once all is lost, there is really nothing to be feared, save for the human enslavement part (hey, I'm looking at it from the big picture); only peaceful ruins and slumber is left.