Grave's Apartment [Spoilers] (Patreon)

The title is kind of a spoiler in itself, but he already said he'd find a way to bring her back there lol

We'll be heading off to Grave's soon, usually he has the curtains drawn to hide his little detective office and his armory work station, but I decided to let the sun in for that cool geometric strip of light on the bed. I went for a brutalist theme, which is the total opposite of Ellie's botanical little paradise, but I actually look forward to drawing Ellie and Grave spending more time here. I like Grave's kitchen more than Ellie's because I could see myself cooking in it a lot more since Ellie doesn't have a lot of counter space. I imagine she probably uses her table a lot to prep cook. You'll get to see the rest of Grave's apartment when we get there.

Many people hate the exposed concrete look of brutalist homes, but I think it can look quite beautiful when paired with the other elements like wood, metal, glass, fabric, and plants, especially flowers. I could imagine myself from Ellie's perspective, snuggled up in that soft, clean, 1000 thread count, linen bed while Grave types away at his computer, putting together the puzzle pieces of the case he's been working on off screen this entire time. The armory isn't just for that--he's working on smaller cases in between each lead he's pursued regarding the case of Luciel. If you remember him from the first iteration of SWFTD, yes that arc is still very much part of the larger story.

It's difficult for me to convince people that there is more to Ellie and Grave's story than just making sweet love, without spoiling everything, but having the time to fully flesh out their love scenes gives me time to refine things like the backgrounds. I have time to really think of things like architecture and interior design that best suits a character or an arc. That's something I wish more stories would do because a lot of my favorite pieces of media do take the time to study and implement those details like Miyazaki does in all of his films. It's something I really admire about directors like him, giving that personal touch and making environments look lived in. In games, exploring the homes of the NPCs is one of my favorite things to do. I love seeing the little personalized details that are unique to each character.

btw he has more firearms than the ones shown on the walls, you'll see what I mean~