#590 process (Patreon)

process on HFHH #590 from thumbnails to final.

ohhh boyyyy what can we sayyyy about this one. i usually shy away from overly stating my intentions, even behind a paywell, because i feel it tramples too much on the sacred ground of audience interpretation and shrinks the space people can see themselves in too much. that's why i mostly default to talking about the actual technicals and process in these posts and try to make it more educational for people who like to understand how a comic is made.

the other thing that would be difficult about trying to talk too much about the writing is that i do make plans for my story, but they change when they need to, so there's no script and no immutable master plan. i do know how it ends and i have several north stars i follow along the way, but how i get there, when i get there, and how much has changed in between is in constant flux. so i don't think my writing about writing would be very informative. i do it mostly on vibes and i sometimes assign meaning retroactively.

however, that's not the case here. this character reveal about achilles has been a long time coming. it ties together a lot of dissonant aspects of his behavior, and illuminates what his predilections do for him: soothe his logical-minded impulses by creating a reality that makes more sense; provide an epiphany that justifies "unmasking" so he doesn't have to try to be someone else anymore; give permission to completely dissolve his old persona into a new personality; present the gift of an indulgence that turns off his higher thought so he can just be happy instead of wanting to be someone or someplace else... more, but those are some big ones.

so far i think everyone has been in agreement about the above points today so i think it's okay to lay them out. i don't really want to go further than that and talk about what those things do against him, how they affect people in his life, what this says about who he really is and so on. those things seem to be in more active discussion so i will leave them alone and let the comic continue to unfold and speak for itself as i get to them.

the more important thing i want to say as myself is i feel it's a real blessing to have been given six years to build up a character and then drop this update that completely recontextualizes who they've been this whole time. i'm happy i stuck with it, and hope i continue to do so, and while i'll always do it first and foremost for myself, i'd probably be less inclined to share my work with an audience that didn't appreciate the way i like to do things. it can be easy sometimes to imagine a more angry or impatient audience, or one that demands more direct word of god or personal attention from the creator. i'm glad i have the one i have instead. thank you for your patience.

anyway i better save some of that for the actual 6 year anniversary, which is coming up on june 12. expect the 600th comic then. following that, i'll take my annual one month break from the comic and 601 will go up sometime in mid-july upon which the usual pace resumes.

pepper is making sausage and peppers.... btw.