Cheshire Riley
Added 2021-05-05 18:02:05 +0000 UTCI suppose I'm aware that at least a part of Riley's design is inspired by the Cheshire Cat. That grin of hers is meant to be creepy and unnerving. Visually, it's meant to give you the impression that she is insane or that she's capable of unpredictable behavior. However, I try to be very careful to avoid defining her by an unspecific madness. Riley is a person first: she is a normal young girl, who just experiences a different reality from the rest of us. I don't think of her as "crazy" or "broken" or "damaged" or "sick." Rather, I much prefer to think that her mental conditions are the main conflict of her own story: that they are her villains. They may be an insurmountable force of nature she constantly struggles against. A big part of that for her, I think, is that she is okay with who she is. She doesn't blame herself for having mental conditions. She doesn't think of herself as a broken mess. Her mind may not always function the same way as others, but it is still HER mind, and I think she's willing to embrace a little bit of her own madness from time to time, if it helps her stay on top of it.
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I have my PC back at long last, and I'm hoping to get a new comic done and posted next week. That means Page 96 should be going public next week and Page 101 will be posted for Patrons of the $1 tier and up. Yes, Riley is on Page 101. :P
