❀ Back to the drawing board
4/26/2023
I am currently so, so sleepy. But I have to say something! It's been two whole months! （；´д｀）ゞ Off the bat, MHYH unfortunately has to go into production limbo, as I've been totally unable to come up with an ending for it that I'm satisfied with. I'm not scrapping the project entirely, but for now I'm going to put it aside because I just can't find ways to re-inspire my desire to create it, and I've been itching to pivot my focus back onto OHAU all throughout (naturally so, all things considered.) Really sucks for how hyped up I was and how extensively I talked about it here. But hey, stuff happens.
As of recent I've been discussing OHAU with some of my immediate friends. Not constantly, but when I happen to open up about the story, it is very difficult for me to stop. It's been a good opportunity to refresh myself on things that I'd like to work on and flesh out more, and it's to a point that I'd feel confident dedicating myself to it again. I miss it. I think it's about time I go back to goofing off with it, especially since there were so many things I wanted to improve upon already at the start of the year! Most especially I would like to develop Mel more. I've noticed in comparison to her counterpart (I cannot help myself when it comes to Beau, I'm sorry) she doesn't have nearly as much to dissect, and I think that's an issue when the story is meant to be taken from her point of view. It's not that she doesn't have a lot to her, but more that she has a lot of untapped potential. The seeds are there for a more complex character and I need to start tending to them.
To start with, I decided I would finally get around to redesigning she and Clover's parents. Florence's especially was overdue, since I haven't changed his design since first creating him (sometime in late 2019 I believe, haha.) It's already blessed me with a few thoughts just drawing them after so long. Specifically I want to give more depth to the theme with Mel and her late mother. It tries to tell its depth more than it shows it; it's always been one of the more in-the-distance ideas since she never has opportunities to learn more about her after her death, but regardless of the trickiness I want to make it work for the impact it could have.
On another note I'd like to give more reason for Mel to have taken such an interest in Beau. As it stands her sudden overwhelming curiosity of a man she knows little to nothing about comes across like infatuation ( ͡ಠ ʖ̯ ͡ಠ) and even further into their relationship in its early stages she doesn't have much legitimate reason to fall in love with him, esp when she doesn't really learn about him as a person until way later. Though, there was always supposed to be some sort of more to it, even very early on, it was something I noticed was lacking but I never managed to get around to fixing it because the depth wasn't as important as the fact itself. I find myself revisiting a lot of my ideas in that way lately; the how isn't as important as the thing itself, a reason will come later. Well, my reasons sure are coming now!
Another thing is that, surprisingly so, for as much as I have wanted to overhaul them, I haven't actually done very much to properly change and readjust the resort chapters. Though most of what I want to work on are things I believe I'm unable to properly work on till I can discuss them with Toon, so I'm alright with refurbishing the littler details for the time being. I think I might spend more of this time fleshing out the cast as a whole, since most of the characters themselves besides the story haven't actually gotten proper attention since their initial conception (and the few times I have gone out of my way to overhaul them.) I'm starting with Mel above all though, definitely, because the more I think about it the more she feels like a side character in her own story. I want to explore more how the events of it all affect her, and what she does in relation to it. If she's going to be The Main Character, she should feel like it!
Other than that, these are just some of my thoughts while easing my way back into my development workflow, primordial as it was during the 3-4 months I had been dedicating my time to it prior to MHYH's conception. I'll make another update on the Ghost of Chicago AMV I made soon! Right now it is late and I would like to hop into the shower and hang out with my friends.
- Kyu; I got an actual computer desk at the thrift store a few days ago and I'm really happy that I don't have to pretend that an art desk is good for putting a computer tower on anymore
