#Hiccup 1&2: haunting the narrative

[the-halfling-prince]

"And a thousand men lifted up their spears and shouted their approval, while the dragons winked their ancient eyes as if to say, "We have heard all this before..."

Finally drew the three hiccups. Not sure how well my original idea shows through this but uh yeah Hiccup III was just so hopeful and he wanted to make the world better for the dragons he loved so much and I just thought about how the first two hiccups wanted the same thing

[queenofnohr]

OK ANYWAY. I guess I’m talking about Alice and Julius now and saving Rin/Rani + Leo + mayyyyyybe the end ???? for last (that might be two parts but w/e)

Alice’s arc was fucking Masterful. It really felt like they put all the budget into creating Alice’s storybook world and it was stunning. Visually, emotionally. Honestly, her arc was perfect.

Not to say there weren’t things that were like.......... weird (I’ll get to those in a second but rn i needa gush) but Alice’s tale was tightly done and even with the hiccups surrounding things not involving her, nothing felt like a waste of time.

Her arc had me bawling from the first shot of Hakuno telling her he’d be back and I swear to god I don’t think I stopped crying for the entirety of those two episodes. In fact, I swear I thought her arc went on for 3 or 4 episodes, that’s just how much good good content that furthered the emotion and narrative of the story as a whole packed in there.  Alice is a Good Girl. She was always a good girl, but I’m so happy they did so much justice to her and her story here. I’ll probably grail her in NA because it’s What She Deserves

That being said................ Amari? Shinji’s girlfriend or whatever? Felt like an enormous waste of time. I thought they were gonna have her stand in as the 4th floor Master since it’s hard to do with route splits but nah. She was just kind of an alcoholic and nothing really got done with her. Luckily her part is so small in the narrative and Alice’s stuff is truly, truly SO well done, that even though Amari’s character feels like a total waste, it doesn’t impact my overall feelings in regard to Alice’s arc. So good. Like, really so so good.

Julius was in a............. weird place for me. On one hand, Dead Face vs. Dead Face is a cool concept for me, and also Julius slapping the shit out of Hakuno (like slapping the shit out of in a very human way not even like ooooooh animu type battles) was fucking hilarious

And because Alice’s arc was just so good, coming off the tails of that I was still riding the hype train? Like Faith in Last Encore restored? So its flaws were easier for me to mitigate.

Also Hakunon’s bit and Nero’s backstory being told in Monogatari ending artstyle was fantastic. While I think Nero’s character on a whole and ultimate tragedy wasn’t as well explored as in EXTRA I still did enjoy them expanding on the tragedies of her life beforehand, and i think the artstyle chosen created this whole storybook vibe that worked really really well.

But! Back to Julius. His arc is passable because of the faith earned by Alice, finally really getting into the meat of dead faces, and being carried by Nero and Hakunon.

But Julius himself? Honestly........... they kinda done him dirty. While dead face v dead face was cool and ultimately something that needed to be explored, if they’re going with this whole “Master of the Past” type thing...........

Julius........... honestly shouldn’t even be here. Julius, and especially this iteration of Julius, was defeated, ultimately, by Hakunon’s kindness. Well, perhaps not even kindness. Empathy. Julius always seems to exist as a direct reflection of Hakuno. In the OG EXTRA, after being defeated, he turned into a cyber ghost “living” only off his pure hatred for Hakuno putting an end to his dreams, and because of that, his entire life being more-or-less lost to the world because he was never more than anything but a pawn for his family to use. Hakunon defeats him not through besting him but by witnessing his life, his suffering, his pain......... and crying for him. Being able to feel someone acknowledge his life is what finally lays his soul to rest.

Now, him existing as a dead face type being doesn’t entirely bother me since, well, as I said his role always has to somewhat mirror Hakuno’s own, and so him being a deadface as well makes sense.

I just wish we knew WHY. Did Hakuno, for whatever reason, not deal with him? Did he not come back soon enough to haunt Hakuno in the main timeline? Did he become a dead face because because the kindness and empathy he was shown was ultimately killed, and with nothing left to witness that pain, he “revived” and turning into a full-on dead face was the only way to continue his existence? I think any explanation can work, but depending on which happened, it needs to be balanced?

Because, in the OG game, Hakuno’s empathy in that moment is like....... one of the truly defining bits of the game, at least to me. In a lot of ways the Moon Cell Grail war is far, far crueler than a normal grail war. Masters cannot normally be saved. But in this small way....... even though she did kill him, she also was able to save him.

And having Julius’s end in Last Encore not have any reference to the empathy that did ultimately save him feels like 1. a missed opportunity, especially since at this point Hakuno isn’t just some HATE dude, and is growing beyond his role of “dead face” even while accepting that he is one. and 2. just.......... does Julius’s character dirty. We learn NONE of his pain and suffering or motivations, not even like the .3 seconds we get about Dan. It’s sad. Julius deserves much better than this.

[maiji]

Process and wip images for A House That Holds Long Limbs (Part 2) 

See Part 1 process and wip documentation

Read the pages for part 2 here (full complete version will be linked from YYH North Bound master post) 

As a story progresses, I tend to become more comfortable with jumping ahead and around in my so-called process. This is mainly because the idea of getting deeper into the action is exciting and I want to get to drawing the pages as quickly as possible. The downside is that it usually results in a lot of “oops” and rework on what was supposed to be a final page.

Here you’ll see that script/pagination/thumbnailing and final pages are all starting to drift even more than in Part 1.

The (last version of the) script

Earlier versions were even more point form and incoherent with typos. But, it only needs to capture enough that I can recognize key actions, points of dialogue, the mood, things to draw in the panels, etc. A few specific items to point out:

“[new part 2]”: The script originally had no exposition on rokurokubi - it went straight to Hokushin telling Raizen he was leaving. It occurred to me later, after I’d started thumbnailing, that inserting a few pages of storytelling narrative right here would help to further solidify the kaidan (traditional Japanese ghost story) effect and mood. More importantly, it creates a baseline reference for what the reader will know about rokurokubi for the purposes of this story. I was lucky that Part 1 and Part 2 were cut neatly enough that this wouldn’t be jarring.

I’m still not entirely happy with the text for this section, mainly the “features of note” about rokurokubi. Not just the fact that it’s oversimplification and slight adaptation of actual Japanese folklore - which can’t be avoided unless I want to write a historical essay here. I’m mainly not super keen on how each of the three items has been phrased. It’d be nice to make the three points more parallel in terms of length, but I couldn’t seem to edit, increase the number of points (by splitting them up), or reorder it effectively without negatively impacting other aspects of pacing and information reveal. More points would draw out the pages longer than I wanted, and some points were clearly sub to other points. The final here is the “good enough” version. JUST GET IT DONE ALREADY SO THAT IT CAN GO OUT INTO THE WORLD.

Sooo many word choice changes. The biggest one, done at the last second, was “They are almost always female” to “They are rarely male”. Other phrasings I debated - “They are very rarely male”, “They are almost never male”, etc. Lemme tell ya, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds… Anyways, the main reason for this was because after I drew it and ran the text through my head, the originally-intended juxtaposition of Hokushin on this page with the word “female” felt too subtle. I felt it would create a brief moment of cognitive dissonance that didn’t serve the flow of the story, so I changed it to create emphasis on the same gender instead with the rationale that it will flow more smoothly and allow the reader to focus their attention on the fact “males are very rare” more than the mental hiccup of processing the juxtaposition. DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?? It made sense in my head.

Anyhow, I’m sure there are people who will disagree with many of the decisions I’ve made, but at least you can see what I was trying to do.

Thumbnails

As mentioned, these thumbnails were done BEFORE I decided to insert the exposition at the beginning.

The first two rows on the left hand page are actually the same set of pages - you can see little arrows pointing down or to the right whenever I’m dissatisfied with a thumbnail and attempt to redraw it.

WIPs

I really like how Hokushin turned out in the last panel here; I like the pencils more than the final inked version. It’s also another example of changing text up to the last second. In case it’s hard to make out, it says (along with what happened to them in the final):

First thought bubble: Ugh, whatever… (moved to the next page, seemed to work better as the end exclamation for this sequence of thoughts before he turns his attention to something else)

Over Hokushin’s head: Aaaargh (moved into the thought bubble)

Second thought bubble: He’s not my responsibility anyways! (no change)

First arrow:  *already feeling bad* (no change)

Second arrow:  *too responsible* (dropped, since a previous panel already said “too responsible”. Too redundant)

Next to Hokushin: All he did was tie me up in a tree (no change)

The above panel “And at night...” was a thrilling and scary thing for me lmao.  I don’t usually tackle large patches/fills of black, since many of my comics are scribbly in style (pencils, hatching) or colour. I’m too lazy for screentones, traditional or digital. It’ll be interesting as parts of the story coming up will involve poorly lit/dim/dark spaces. I’ve been reviewing how other artists handle it, particularly those with styles driven by pure-ink or minimalist type approaches. Two immediate examples from Yu Yu Hakusho that I’ve been going back to are the dark room fights during Genkai’s successor trials (I’ve taken a similar approach here), and the haunted bedroom case in volume 19. Hardcore cross-hatching seems like a likely route, but that freaks me out when I have to do it over faces. I’d like to minimize or avoid screentoning out of principle, but I still want to create a clear mood, so we’ll see how it goes...

This was my view while inking this page - holding the book in one hand while inking Hokushin with the other. Using the more freehand, sketchy inking style for this comic was so helpful in terms of reducing my inking anxiety and allowing me to work faster.

It’s always great when you can find a reference for period armor (because I find armor very difficult) that is so close to the pose you’re already drawing. There are some small differences - for example, Hokushin’s head is turned more to the right; his left arm is turned and raised more as he’s pulling the sword upwards. But it’s close enough.

Also, spotlight on a few of the books I’ve referenced over the course of working on North Bound in general and this part specifically.  

Clockwise from top left:

日本服飾史 女性編 and 男性編 (History of clothing/costume in Japan female and male editions). This marvelous set of books highlights Japanese fashion throughout history. I’ve actually been referencing these photos for a long time before I ever picked up these books - you can see them at the Costume Museum’s website here, alongside helpful line drawings and translations of some of the details. But the books allow me to see a lot more detail.

Hokusai manga vol 1 (this book is published as part of a set of 3). Sketches by Hokusai. This one focuses on “The life and manners of the day” and includes drawings of youkai, including rokurokubi, as well. You can check out the drawings online at places like The Pulverer Collection Online Catalogue.

Action references!! Real Action Pose Collection 02 (focuses on sword fights) and my favourite Samurai & Ninja Action Scene Collection. Not used as much in Long Limbs, but was helpful in some of the other chapters. The time frame is really much later than what I need for ideal clothing references, but it’s helpful for things like movement.

Kekkaishi volume 32. SPOILER a key flashback takes place about 500 years ago, which is actually a few centuries off give or take from but at least it’s closer than the Edo period. I’ve been looking at it for houses, some clothing.

Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix - Civil War parts 1 and 2. I reference this so much while working on North Bound in general. It has scenes with peasants and commoners and some appropriate street and interior environments, not just stuff focused on the aristocracy or warrior classes. Just have to remember that they flipped all the artwork in the English version lol

Bunch of Yu Yu Hakusho manga and anime references from the end of the series, mostly for Raizen, the kudakusushi and just to check against things he or Hokushin said. The actual clothing and environments are not helpful at all lol

Last minute edits

After I posted, I discovered a few mistakes (of course). I used to freak out a lot and drop everything to fix it. Now I just sigh and laugh (and still freak out a little bit, depending on the mistake) and then decide what’s important enough to fix and what is like, “Oh well, whatever, move on with my life”.

I feel that seeing other artists share their frustrations and mistakes helps a lot of people feel better about it when they realize IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME TO EVERYONE (including professionals. There are errors like this in professionally published series, like Yu Yu Hakusho, too). YOU’RE NOT ALONE. 

So, these ones bugged me enough that I quickly redrew them on the computer.

[oncethrown]

2x17 "Do you trust me?"

This was another good example of an episode that had a central theme, and teased it through nearly all the plot lines to expand characters in a satisfying way. The theme still didn't manage to affect Clary, who is now basically flapping in the wind with a motivation that doesn't make sense. "Do you trust Jocelyn?" To me, one of the most interesting things about this episode is the evidence that Jocelyn dragged so many warlocks into protecting the mirror. It was either @f-f-f-fight or @amorverus who commented that the narrative allows so much trust in Jocelyn because she's a white woman, and while that's probably the real reason this plot line exists, there is internal logic to this plot that is dark and fascinating. Jocelyn is a master manipulator. We've seen her in action several times. She has a way of getting what she wants from people, by giving them what they want, and not giving a damn if that exchange of goods and services harms them or other people. Every time we saw Jocelyn on screen, she was exerting some kind of power to achieve her ends. She has her daughter's mind wiped to keep them away from the Clave, and somehow manipulates Magnus into helping her. She lies to Clary for 18 years. She gets a lot of support (including, you have to assume, monetary support, cause...artist) from Luke and seems to offer nothing in return. She traps Clary in a boathouse so she can kill Jace unimpeded. She killed Alec to find Clary. Remember that? Clary was pissed, put herself in danger, and then Jocelyn used Alec to find her, and for a moment, Alec was dead. Jocelyn killed Alec. So it's really easy to imagine Jocelyn going to all of these warlocks, promising them the power to restrict the power of the Clave, and oh by the way... you might die. Jocelyn, in this light, is the perfect embodiment of the Clave. Making promises, but never risking what she asks others to risk. Always out to get what she wants, but never offering mutual trust, mutual transparency. Assuring everyone that they have the downworld's best interest at heart, they want to work together...and then protecting themselves from the specter of an uprising by lying about having the sword. If intentional, The leitmotif of Jocelyn's manipulation in this episode Is genius. If not it's All the Problems With Clary turned up to Eleven. "Do the Lightwood trust the Clave and Eachother" Max's orders are an interesting hiccup in this trust/Clave/sword imbroglio, especially for Izzy. She has to ask herself if she trusts herself to have trained Max well enough, a harder question now that she's in recovery. She has to confront Alec, not as her older brother, but as the head of the Institute, sending another young soldier into the field. And of course, does she trust the Clave? Does she trust their choice to let 12 year olds out into a world that is much much more dangerous than ever before. I wish there had been more talk between the Lightwoods about trusting the Clave after the revelation about the sword, but I acknowledge that this Max plot line is building toward something in the next episode and that the sword thing is covered in other plots. It also sets up the questions that other characters ask about being able to trust Alec as the head of the Institute. "Was Magnus Wrong to Trust Alec as Much as he Did?" Obviously the focus of this piece of the plot is on Alec and Magnus's personal relationship being tested by their professional obligations and cultural loyalties. Magnus has opened up to Alec in ways he hasn't opened up to anyone. We just came off an episode where Magnus told Alec something he may never have told anyone, after keeping it bottled up for four straight episodes. Then Magnus comes from a meeting and unabashedly announces his total faith in Alec's good intentions, and trustworthiness. The revelation that Alec lied about the Clave is a huge and multi layered betrayal. 1. He lied to Magnus. Alec is always shown being totally honest with Magnus. He didn't know why he stayed to have a drink with Magnus, and he doesn't pretend otherwise. He tells Magnus as soon as he gets engaged. He admits to having some degree of suicidal ideation. He walks into sex with no major reservations pretty early. There is a lot of trust there. Alec's lie complete blindsides Magnus. 2. The lie shows that Alec is more of a Shadowhunter than Magnus has been thinking of him as. Alec lies to Magnus to protect the Clave. Alec makes a show of transparency with the downworld, gives that to Magnus as the official line, and then politically undermines Magnus, as The High Warlock, like a Trump tweet during a White House briefing. Alec then toes the party line about protecting downworlders from themselves in general, and insults Magnus by infantilizing him. Alec just didn't want Magnus to worry his pretty head about the sword. 3. The lie shows disregard for the magnitude of damage that Valentine has caused in only the last few weeks and for Magnus's life.If Alec had bought yogurt on the day of the downworld massacre that took place in Alec's Institute, with that missing sword, that yogurt would still be good. Also, for a significant amount of time, Alec thought he was going to find Magnus's dead body lying in a hallway after that massacre. It's like if there was a school shooting, and afterward the school put the gun in a janitor's closet, fully loaded, and forgot about it. Much like Izzy did, Magnus walks in to see Alec and finds himself confronting the Head of the New York Institute. Alec loves and admires Magnus. The Head of the Institute made assumptions about how a warlock would react to Clave news. Alec is always open and honest with Magnus. The head of the Institute is hiding life or death information. And there is a race factor here too. Everything Alec says and does after Magnus confronts him reeks of ingrained downworlder predjudice. Which is not to say that Alec is a bigot, or that he doesn't love Magnus, but Alec benefits from a society where he is powerful because his species has subjugated Magnus's species and hunted them for sport within Magnus's living memory. It's a massive betrayal, and Magnus lashes out at Alec with a viciousness that shocks Alec. It's the end of the honeymoon, and it's a great set up for deep meaningful plots moving forward. "Who can Jonathan trust?" It's also interesting to see the Jonathan/Valentine dynamic in an episode haunted by Jocelyn's emotional manipulation skills. Jonathan has this very interesting motivation: he wants to be loved. He's a villain who wants to be loved. He's a villain with a baseline of "pretty gosh darn evil" who just wants to be loved... and so far in the plot, shouldn't be loved. I am so in. Love that shit. And he's with an abusive monster who is preying on him to revert back to his big genocide plan... but he's also in contact with Jace, who can keep pointing out how abusive and manipulative Valentine is. And he knows Clary is his sister, and she keeps talking about how he can be redeemed, and she needs to find him, and she has no one, and giving him this lifeline. I almost want to read the kiss as an outburst of misplaced non sexual want. Like, he just has no idea how to express affection, but also he wants to claim her in a completely not-okay way. But the cynical part of me thinks that free form probably just threw it in for no reason. "Clary was also in this episode" Clary is the only character saddled with dragging the book plot along with her, and it's an albatross around her neck. Knowing that, it was a huge mistake to also give her the exposition that was so clunky it was reading examples of how not to do it. Then give her magic plot advancing powers in the form of visions for no reason. Everyone of her scenes reads like it was written by someone who got this job because their uncle works there, but they showed up hungover, wrote it 10 minutes before the scripts were due, and is probably going to quit soon anyway. Seriously, whoever wrote the Clary parts of this episode should be fired. Rather than beat a dead horse with my usual complaints about Clary and her storyline, I'm just going to point out that all those complaints still apply, but now with extra annoyance because: 1. The motivation they gave her makes no sense. Luke was supposed to be her father, but they never talk since she you know, tasered him. Dot is supposed to be a big sister to her, Clary keeps leaving her to die. But also, the writers don't use her actual close relationships to build this want in anyway. Like, she fucked up a sibling relationship with Simon cause of the awkward nerd boning, and the distance in that relationship never comes up as a motivating factor as she searches for family. The three people she hangs out with most (theoretically) are siblings. The idea that maybe she's a little isolated from that dynamic doesn't come up. 2x17 was a well developed, nuanced episode that explored a lot of deep and complicated facets of the characters and elements of the world, and Clary was a redhead in it.