Here is another batch of writer notes on Sorcery 101. If you want to read ahead on these got ahead on these head over to my patreon.
Title page
I wanted something unsettingling. I asked for Andrew to use mostly purple since that’s the color I use most associated with The Lady. Then I asked for a green because that usually makes people uneasy.
page 1299
I was orginally going to show Danny’s dreams. I decided against it because the point isn’t the specifics of the dream just that they are unsettling. Also he doesn’t tell Trish to show that he’s pulling away from her even before finding out she is sleeping with Seth.
page 1300 – 1304
As the lines get worse under his eyes, he can’t focus on anything and only half listens. Also these dreams don’t even let him finish a 15 min nap. So only fair that he shouldn’t drive. Also, I wanted Connor to be the one to mention Seth because he’s not as buried in everything else but still had a very recent bad run with him.
page 1305 – 1311
I thought a Danny and Connor trying to make small talk would be fun. His only real connection to everyone is through Jeff. He the closest Danny is gonna get to an outsider perspective on everything that is going on. He’s supposed to be texting. While drawing this page I realized it’s still 2006 for them. I had to look up phones that were out at the time. Since Connor’s a senator’s son and goes to a fancy boarding school gave him the most expensive, a blackberry. But we don’t get a good look at it, so kinda looks like a DS. Obviously that apartment Jeff and Connor are getting is gonna be stupid nice and paid for by their parents.
I liked drawing Connor’s reactions to seeing Seth and that he IMMEDIATELY removes his tie. Also I had fun with Seth responding to things Danny didn’t say.
Pat’s state is because I wanted it clear that he doesn’t heal as fast as Seth but can still recover from most things with time. So you can see some of the scars from where Suryu cut him up as well as the obvious eye patch.
Pat’s advice to see a doctor first is mostly because I didn’t want normal stuff to get ruled out by characters who know what’s going on. PTSD isn’t out of the question when it comes to everything Seth put Danny through. Also that’s far more traumatic than just touching a weird knife so I figured Danny would also focus on that. Danny glances at Connor when he gets extra vague about his dreams and says they’re personal. He probably would have told Pat solo but Connor doesn’t get to hear about Danny’s personal demons.
Lucky for Danny, Asagi knows exactly what’s going on. Lucky. Also, in a lot of fiction vampires are just naturally amazing looking. I wanted Asagi’s character to be someone who puts a lot of effort into certain look. So I thought it would be fun to show how he looks before his early evening prep time.
page 1312 – 1314
This is of course a lot of not giving Danny a straight answer so he will finish the ritual. Their dialogue is also to show that even though Danny doesn’t know many spells, he does know theory. Or at least enough to have some good guesses about what will happen. I wanted this spell to be something that is fairly easy to do. Asagi who doesn’t know sorcery needs to be able to do it. Really anyone could do it if they know how. But most don’t know about The Lady so they wouldn’t even know what the spell is for. It is so much easier then a healing spell or a fire spell.
page 1315 – 1322
I had so much fun drawing this whole scene and the shadows on the walls. The Lady gets a black speech balloon because I wanted it to be clear that despite the shape shifting, she was also the dragon who spoke to Mr. Tamura. Asagi gets called a cheater because Danny was supposed to figure this out for himself.
I wrote The Lady in that she knows everything about any creature of darkness, but since that is so much information she needs to be given context on what’s being discussed/what to focus on. So she always knew about Danny and everything about him, but touching her knife was a LOOK HERE beacon. So every time she turns to Asagi it’s to get that focus. That is also why The Lady refers to characters as titles rather than names. A lot of those she knows the most about change their names or have several alias. So Asagi is General, Mr. Tamura is Guardian, Seth is Thief, Frost is Boy-King, and Danny is Prince for obvious reasons. You can make guesses about everyone else based on what she calls them.
I also wanted her to seem alien even when in the form of a human, hence the purely purple eyes and how she floats around. She also keeps circling Danny the way she circled around Mr. Tamura as a dragon. She also doesn’t understand what is and isn’t acceptable human behavior. But just because she doesn’t understand humans doesn’t mean she will disregard their feelings.
Also, The Lady’s mind messing hurt Seth too. He is bleeding from his nose, ears, and tear ducts.
page 1323 – 1328
Danny needs a moment to take in all the correct memories. And I like that Asagi gives Seth a manners lesson and then scolds him for not paying attention.
Danny’s fight with Seth starts like Lope’s fight with him. But Lope didn’t stop between spells to yell at Seth. Seth’s neck is broken and he’s fixing it while saying he is harder to kill. I thought that would be a nice display of power while he chokes Danny. Danny listing off how Seth affected his mind, I wanted mostly down shots with a clear look at his face. Then Seth once again towers over him in a shot that is the same as right before he threatened Danny at the end of Enemies.
Seth isn’t playing around with Danny like when he killed Suzanne. So he just dodges once before hitting him hard enough that he won’t get back up.
Pat and Danny have a nice moment, which Connor ruins.