4086.2: 嘘
Oh, wait, I missed a thing, didn't I =| Aagh, I have too many things on my mind...Five Fictional Facts FridayMonday: Hound
Hound is a lord. Specifically, by a political union between his dominion and the bordering lands [read: arranged marriage], he is the governing lord of a small province under the Earl Bergamot of the House of Grey. Dramatically, just as the union was made official but before all the good parts could take place [you know which--everything after, "I now pronounce you..."], a rogue mercenary took out nearly everyone present, leaving Hound with a disfiguring scar across his left eye and a land in devastation.
This is the establishing background for his character, and it's kind of a weak fact [I assume it's supposed to be a little more in-depth, to add to an existing story], but it's something I haven't drilled in with art alone [I can't assume anyone has read any of my stories], and, in fact, it's the LEAST interesting thing about him and his world.
Hound's wedding outfit included David Bowie's pants in Labyrinth. Because, despite being a would-be lord, he was arrogant and wanted to "show off." [I am NOT describing more specific detail than that, about that, about ANY character.] [[if only because imaging your own "specs" is more interesting than being given exact measurements, based on how much you [dis]like a character]]
Hound wears his dead almost-wife's ring on a chain around his neck. This is an annoying detail to add, artistically, but I try where it seems like it would be visible. There is also a point where he stops doing that, but that's a spoiler when and why, if you haven't read the story.
Hound's deepest secret is one he doesn't even know. I suppose it defeats the point of listing facts not to go into detail about them, but it's almost a cliché [save for the fact that it still WORKS WELL] to say that the journey is about learning and growing more than it is about the intended outcome. That said, everyone has secrets they keep from others for what reason, and his is a pretty flagrant one.
Perhaps most interestingly, Hound was created as a heroic villain, the throwaway antagonist to a villainous protagonist [a la Death Note, Despicable Me [sort of, since he turns good], Disgaea]. Regardless of what you might think with regards to the changes between v1 and the current version of the story if you compared them side-by-side, when I started fleshing out the story with solid details, the focus changed to Hound, because he had the more compelling story and became an infinitely more sympathetic character for it.
It's not that I think an anti-hero wouldn't be more interesting. Hound, as a coincidentally traditional hero, just seemed to have the better story, and it's not really a story that's worth telling from both points of view.
Semi-relatedly, I forgot to mention that I basically received all of FMA: Brotherhood for Giftmas =o [DVD set 1/5 was last Giftmas] so we spent most of the last two days watching it all again [plus the Durarara! set I got for C]. I know there's no way to "claim" ownership of ideas other people come to on their own, but I keep seeing my ideas in things I couldn't possibly have influenced... don't know how I'd feel if there was someone who DELIBERATELY stole my ideas! T_T [except the ones, usually fan-related, where I specifically say "please steal this so I don't do it"]
But I noticed [and this isn't supposed to suggest anything about my own stories or shows I've seen, but as a note] a lot of shows I've seen with a definite End to a story only suggest future hook-ups vs. showing them flat out. I'm not saying "ZOMG SHOW ED + ROY GETTIGN MARRIED OTP ♥" [though EEW to that], but even a little more than a photo album from the future would be fan service. Like the HP ending, though some of it seemed forced to explain things [non-spoiler spoiler: using the son's full name to illustrate a point that otherwise gets lost from not knowing the name]. Or, they're together now because they hugged in the last episode. Things like that, as though no possible treatment above "use your imagination" would do it justice.
I guess that's why, but the photo album thing is a little cheesy. I get WHY it's done, and it's a little less awkward about the "tying up all loose ends" element than Reeve's treatment of every major character that doesn't die in the Mortal Engines quartet, but it feels like having cake and eating it, too.
Granted, follow-ups to some of my advice columns [especially Carolyn, who has the highest follow-up ratio of any I've read] are kind of the same way, with the people who do write back after a particularly interesting Q&A almost never giving a satisfying resolution. [Of course, I don't know what's "satsifying" in each case--"okay, we fixed it" might be satisfying to the OP, but it's kinda "...oh" to everyone else.] The most interesting follow-up was a teary confession from the OP saying he broke down after he realized how shallow he was being, and the awesome woman he was with was such a compassionate being that she hugged the filthiest homeless person they'd met, and how could he think he could be swayed by a young girl that caught his eye once in passing.
The writers I want to hear back from, I don't think I've ever seen a follow-up. That one was the exception: the follow-up made me more interested in the original question.
Anyway, predictably, I didn't get any drawing done, despite three days off. I mean, I did the baseline daily sketches, but it feels like unless I can establish a queue and get COMIC work done, I haven't really made progress =( One of these days...
ONE OF THESE DAYS...
[POW! Right in the sketchbook!]
Hound is a lord. Specifically, by a political union between his dominion and the bordering lands [read: arranged marriage], he is the governing lord of a small province under the Earl Bergamot of the House of Grey. Dramatically, just as the union was made official but before all the good parts could take place [you know which--everything after, "I now pronounce you..."], a rogue mercenary took out nearly everyone present, leaving Hound with a disfiguring scar across his left eye and a land in devastation.
This is the establishing background for his character, and it's kind of a weak fact [I assume it's supposed to be a little more in-depth, to add to an existing story], but it's something I haven't drilled in with art alone [I can't assume anyone has read any of my stories], and, in fact, it's the LEAST interesting thing about him and his world.
Hound's wedding outfit included David Bowie's pants in Labyrinth. Because, despite being a would-be lord, he was arrogant and wanted to "show off." [I am NOT describing more specific detail than that, about that, about ANY character.] [[if only because imaging your own "specs" is more interesting than being given exact measurements, based on how much you [dis]like a character]]
Hound wears his dead almost-wife's ring on a chain around his neck. This is an annoying detail to add, artistically, but I try where it seems like it would be visible. There is also a point where he stops doing that, but that's a spoiler when and why, if you haven't read the story.
Hound's deepest secret is one he doesn't even know. I suppose it defeats the point of listing facts not to go into detail about them, but it's almost a cliché [save for the fact that it still WORKS WELL] to say that the journey is about learning and growing more than it is about the intended outcome. That said, everyone has secrets they keep from others for what reason, and his is a pretty flagrant one.
Perhaps most interestingly, Hound was created as a heroic villain, the throwaway antagonist to a villainous protagonist [a la Death Note, Despicable Me [sort of, since he turns good], Disgaea]. Regardless of what you might think with regards to the changes between v1 and the current version of the story if you compared them side-by-side, when I started fleshing out the story with solid details, the focus changed to Hound, because he had the more compelling story and became an infinitely more sympathetic character for it.
It's not that I think an anti-hero wouldn't be more interesting. Hound, as a coincidentally traditional hero, just seemed to have the better story, and it's not really a story that's worth telling from both points of view.
Semi-relatedly, I forgot to mention that I basically received all of FMA: Brotherhood for Giftmas =o [DVD set 1/5 was last Giftmas] so we spent most of the last two days watching it all again [plus the Durarara! set I got for C]. I know there's no way to "claim" ownership of ideas other people come to on their own, but I keep seeing my ideas in things I couldn't possibly have influenced... don't know how I'd feel if there was someone who DELIBERATELY stole my ideas! T_T [except the ones, usually fan-related, where I specifically say "please steal this so I don't do it"]
But I noticed [and this isn't supposed to suggest anything about my own stories or shows I've seen, but as a note] a lot of shows I've seen with a definite End to a story only suggest future hook-ups vs. showing them flat out. I'm not saying "ZOMG SHOW ED + ROY GETTIGN MARRIED OTP ♥" [though EEW to that], but even a little more than a photo album from the future would be fan service. Like the HP ending, though some of it seemed forced to explain things [non-spoiler spoiler: using the son's full name to illustrate a point that otherwise gets lost from not knowing the name]. Or, they're together now because they hugged in the last episode. Things like that, as though no possible treatment above "use your imagination" would do it justice.
I guess that's why, but the photo album thing is a little cheesy. I get WHY it's done, and it's a little less awkward about the "tying up all loose ends" element than Reeve's treatment of every major character that doesn't die in the Mortal Engines quartet, but it feels like having cake and eating it, too.
Granted, follow-ups to some of my advice columns [especially Carolyn, who has the highest follow-up ratio of any I've read] are kind of the same way, with the people who do write back after a particularly interesting Q&A almost never giving a satisfying resolution. [Of course, I don't know what's "satsifying" in each case--"okay, we fixed it" might be satisfying to the OP, but it's kinda "...oh" to everyone else.] The most interesting follow-up was a teary confession from the OP saying he broke down after he realized how shallow he was being, and the awesome woman he was with was such a compassionate being that she hugged the filthiest homeless person they'd met, and how could he think he could be swayed by a young girl that caught his eye once in passing.
The writers I want to hear back from, I don't think I've ever seen a follow-up. That one was the exception: the follow-up made me more interested in the original question.
Anyway, predictably, I didn't get any drawing done, despite three days off. I mean, I did the baseline daily sketches, but it feels like unless I can establish a queue and get COMIC work done, I haven't really made progress =( One of these days...
ONE OF THESE DAYS...
[POW! Right in the sketchbook!]