Archive for annotated-chapter-7

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 27

Oct26
by Erin Ptah on October 26, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Business dragonBig, big reaction here.

At least some of it is over-reaction. Was that clear, on first reading? Jany’s knee-jerk “no jobs! of any kind! ever!” is definitely overkill — we’ll see plenty of examples of Beings working over the course of the comic, they’re not all on the level of “dogfighting victim” or “racism fetish fulfillment.”

But on the whole, her parents are being uncomfortably callous and controlling. And if she did anything less than getting out of there, it wasn’t going to get better.

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 26

Oct25
by Erin Ptah on October 25, 2021 at 12:01 AM

The “remastering pages for the trade-paperback edition” process ran from the start of chapter 1 to the end of chapter 26 (plus all the interludes, so everything in volumes 1-7).

I exported new copies of all the pages, and I updated all the comic posts…except, for some reason, this one. The original post still has the original, unaltered version. Maybe I forgot that I re-drew any part of it at all? With most of the figures as black silhouettes, and barely any background, there was so little drawn in the first place…

The remastered page did exist, though. Very slightly re-shaded. It ended up in the original Volume 2.

This version is the page that got updated again for the Master’s Edition. I wanted more shine on the windows, and more stark contrast in the rain.

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 25

Oct22
by Erin Ptah on October 22, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Lightning hitting ocean, labeled 'Fuck these six fish in particular'Sometimes you try to keep it realistic and not fall back on too-convenient tropes.

Other times you decide, screw it, gonna give this page some Thunder of Perfect Dramatic Timing.

 

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 24

Oct21
by Erin Ptah on October 21, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Utena and Anthy lying on grassI still really like that minimalist pastoral scene in the dream sequence.

In the original upload, it used the typical “greyscale + greens + spot-colors of plot significance” color scheme. In the remaster, I decided that didn’t look dream-y/otherworldly enough, and slapped a tinted “screen” layer over the whole thing. (It’s a dull red/purple — the color of the shadows I use on Kara Lynn’s hair in daylight scenes.)

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 23

Oct20
by Erin Ptah on October 20, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Boston overheadIf you were tracking the photo backgrounds closely enough, you might go “hey, that’s also the view from the Cohen Broadcasting Being-research lounge. Is Miranda in the same building? Is this a clue that these plot points are related??”

…but you might also go “you know what, Erin probably only got one under-her-copyright set of photos for these overhead Boston views, so she’s going to reuse them in every situation no matter what.”

And, well, you’d be right on both counts. (I never even managed to take my own nighttime photos, just edited the heck out of the daylight ones and hoped it looked close enough.)

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 22

Oct19
by Erin Ptah on October 19, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Two baby birds, captioned: I see no reason why two chicks can't get marriedDog And Bird Are Friends(TM)

But seriously, all the professional advice I’ve read is that birds and dogs are a dicey combination, they should be introduced slowly if you want them to get along at all, and they definitely shouldn’t be left unsupervised and alone together. Don’t use these magical talking shapeshifters as your pet-handling model.

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 21

Oct18
by Erin Ptah on October 18, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Women huggingBetween the original drawing and the trade-paperback remastering, I finessed a bunch of the art by redrawing specific lines, re-shaping the forms, adding new textures or shadows or little details in specific places. But the list of times I flat-out redrew a whole panel is pretty short.

That hug in the middle left is one of them.

Even back when I drew the original, I wasn’t thrilled with it. Having the excuse to replace it was a huge relief. Don’t draw hugs without pose references, kids.

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 20

Oct15
by Erin Ptah on October 15, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Loyalty cardWhat I like about this conversation is, it comes out later that he’s not doing this behind Miranda’s back — she deliberately sent Poe on his own, to lure in Team Bianca.

But also, she didn’t give him a line-by-line script, just left him to play it by ear…so he’s just going ahead and telling the truth. Specifically, truths she would not have instructed him to admit. Which bolsters the story that she didn’t send him at all.

And put the whole package together, Poe isn’t just angling to get what Miranda wants, he’s also throwing in a layer to get what she needs.

(In other words: slow your roll, Patrick, this is actually double-plus-loyalty.)

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 19

Oct14
by Erin Ptah on October 14, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Empty dogfighting ringIt’s been a few chapters since the last time I said “huh, really wish I’d drawn this page like X instead of Y.”

Well, now I’m gonna do one more: Should’ve given this part of the conversation an extra page or two.

(And this is not updated in the Master’s Edition, because from the start, I made myself a rule of “not going to make any change that involves drawing whole new pages, that way lies madness.”)

Give Poe’s reveal extra weight by showing some flashback panels under the narration. I’m not thinking “graphic animal harm, front and center!”, more like “show that the location is dark and ominous, that the people are cruel and intimidating, that Miranda is really out-of-place and making an impressive effort not to freak out.”

Would’ve been a nice bit of lore to see Poe’s last incarnation, too. In retrospect, he’s the only one of the Big Six (along with Patrick, Reseda, Kara Lynn, Cybele, and Blake) whose previous form we never even get to see in cameo.

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Annotated Chapter 7 Page 18

Oct13
by Erin Ptah on October 13, 2021 at 12:01 AM

Handshake bound with rope“Okay, but the first time you say ‘Nevermore’, you’re out of here, pal.”

Writing this scene, I went back-and-forth about whether or not to go for the full “if Beings make a statement in this specific way, they’re guaranteed to be telling the truth.”

Ultimately decided against it. We already established that Beings won’t get stuck in infinite logic loops if you give them contradictory orders. Having done that, I didn’t want to turn around and immediately bog down the narrative with “gotta give this Being’s statement the exact phrasing it needs to be technically true, while leaving a loophole that the Being’s Master can still get through, without any of the genre-savvy characters in-universe immediately picking up on it.”

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