Page Commentary No. 300

Gunwild: Well that's not so fun and uplifting...

Psu: We had a lot of back and forth on this storyline, if I remember correctly. It was definitely a tougher one to write and fit it into the general mood of the comic.

Gunwild: I don't think we were fighting too much about it, we just needed to figure out how to bring it to some kind of head on the next page. Otherwise it'd just be some kid with no parents being sad!

Psu: Which is compelling drama! But yeah, we needed to hit the next page with some point. This wasn't gonna be a moment we could just cut away from. But was it the right time? Well... maybe there was never really a perfect time for this. It's kinda outta left field. But the kiddos couldn't just stay orphans forever. There was bound to be someone who could give them a home, I just thought it was interesting if it happened before everyone was ready.

Psu: I figured on something really sincere here, cause changes are scary. But since it's something they all quietly look forward to someday, we knew that Nisa would be happy for her friend. But I think we always knew that she was at heart the odd ball of the group. She's kinda the mini Cassiopeia Quinn in the entire story. Even kinda looks like her sometimes, which is something we joked about once or twice in the background. But in a way, it's also like Nisa's own emotional journey is similar to Cassiopeia's too. Something something, friends we made along the way are the real magic. They have similar fears too. I don't think Cassiopeia was afraid of being alone before she had friends, back when she herself was an orphan. But once she had them, I think she'd be afraid to lose them. And then where does that leave her? Alone again? All that treasure and no one to share it with?

Brellom: She'll be okay if they still have Genshin Impact in the Cassiopeia Space future. That's how I get over being completely alone.

Psu: Burgers help.

Brellom: It's true.

Gunwild: Is it still a burger if it's just a stack of beef patties?

Psu: Yeah! The burger is the burger part of it... I don't know how to better explain that.Hey Brellom, what're you doing here?

Brellom: I am everywhere and nowhere all at once.

Brellom: I worked on this page. I believe Psu approached me for work because they wanted the first two panels to have that old sword & sorcery adventure illustration vibe. I imagine they were looking for something similar to Katsuya Terada's old illustrations for The Legend of Zelda, with chunky line work and rich arrangements of reds & blues. A lot of those works really stood out because of the contrast of cool & warm hues - which I imagine really helped highlight the dichotomy between the dream of adventure with the somber reality seen in the rest of the page. I typically try to go for a visual style that plays more nicely with Psu's work on these pages, but the difference in style really suited this scene, right down to our use (or lack thereof) of texture in the scene. Wearing your bow like that is probably a really bad idea. Had I a second chance to work on this, I'd probably try to rework the bow into this scene in a more immersive way. I think this was the original expectation so I can always ignore impracticality for design -- the string of the bow helps the viewer's eye move across panel 1... But it overlaps the face in a way I don't like for panel 2. So, yeah...

Gunwild: Yeah, you're gonna wear out the bowstring by keeping it strung, let alone pulling against your body.

Brellom: It's difficult to put on and take off too. Shad over at Shadiversity created an interesting solution to this problem on his Youtube Channel a long time ago, but Nisa's cape does limit us somewhat.

Psu: I like that you made the dream so colorful before I toned everything down with that rainy sky background.

Brellom: Ah, yeah. I also liked how my panels have these bits of textural noise in the background, but they get washed away by the blurred lights in the rainy windows of the subsequent panels. There's still just a bit of texture (if you notice that light speckle effect), but Psu's backgrounds are largely ethereal and glowy.

Psu: Normally there's more texture in a Cassiopeia page but I think I was a little short on time! But I think combining the two different art styles helped the page quite a bit. And you still captured a lot of that emotion in that second panel. She just seems so tiny there.

Brellom: Mm. It's pretty neat how that previous warmth in the panel before it gets completely enveloped in the cool hues of that dark blue. You can see just the slightest bit of red near the bottom of the panel, almost like they're slowly draining away behind the chest. It also helps provide a bit of contrast near the focal point - the character - as slight as it is.

Psu: The wood lines on the top of the chest even point to her face. You're very clever.

Brellom: Kinda.

Gunwild: Yeah, but how does it open without hinges? 

Brellom: Magic.

Gunwild: I buy it.

Psu: It's dreams, we don't have to explain it.